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1 


THE 

FREEDMEN  OF  PORT  ROYAL, 


SOUTH-OAEOLIE"A. 


OFFICIAL  REPORTS 

OF 

EDWARD  L.  PIERCE. 


^^"EW-YORK: 
s  IB  E  i_i  Hi  I  o  nxr  i=^eooi=lid, 

441  AND  448  BROADWxVY. 
1  86  3. 


THE  NEGROES  AT  PORT  ROYAL,  S.  0. 


EEPORT  OF  THE  GOYEEKMEOT  AGEKT. 


An  opportunity  was  afforded  me,  while  on  a 
visit  to  Port  Royal,  extending  from  March  twen- 
ty-fifth to  April  tenth,  to  survey  the  plantations, 
the  schools,  and  the  regiments.  There  are  in  the 
Department  moi-e  than  thirty  schools,  conducted 
by  as  many  as  forty  teachers,  and  attended  by  an 
average  number  of  two  thousand  pupils,  and  fre- 
quented more  or  less  by  another  thousand,  the 
main  body  of  the  pupils  being  from  seven  to  fif- 
teen years  of  age.  The  advanced  classes  were 
reading  simple  stories  and  didactic  passages  in 
the  ordinary  school-books,  and  those  who  had 
enjoyed  a  briefer  period  of  teaching,  were  reading 
short  sentences  or  learning  the  alphabet — simple 
lessons  in  arithmetic,  geography,  and  writing 
being  taught  in  some  of  the  schools.  The  eager- 
ness for  knowledge  and  facility  of  acquisition 
displayed  in  the  beginning,  had  not  abated. 

The  laborers,  composed  of  women  and  children 
and  disabled  men  exempted  from  the  draft,  were 
working  of  their  own  accord  and  without  compul- 
sion, upon  patches  set  apart  for  them,  larger  or 
smaller  as  they  desired,  having  each  taken  a 
proper  amount  for  corn,  and  one,  two,  or  three 
acres  for  cotton.  There  was  some  derangement 
of  labor  at  certain  points,  due  to  the  draft  and  to 
the  excitement  and  disorder  attending  military 
movements ;  otherwise  the  industrial  results 
were  satisfactory. 

There  had  been  an  evident  development  of 
manhood  among  the  people,  demonstrated  in 
their  disposition  to  acquire  the  conveniences  and 
comforts  of  household  life,  in  their  desire  to  be- 
come proprietors  of  land — five  out  of  the  forty- 
seven  plantations  recently  sold  for  taxes  having 
been  bought  by  negroes,  who  united  their  funds 
for  the  purpose — in  their  growing  consciousness 
of  rights,  and  readiness  to  defend  them  when  as- 
sailed by  white  men,  and  in  their  voluntary  en- 
listment as  soldiers,  under  a  sense  of  obhgation 
to  aid  us,  their  allies,  to  uphold  the  honor  of  their 
race,  and  to  rescue  their  kindred  still  in  bonds. 

As  a  people,  they  are  not  exempt  from  the 
frailties  of  our  common  humanity,  or  from  the 
vices  which  hereditary  bondage  always  superadds 
to  these.  As  it  is  said  to  take  three  generations 
to  subdue  a  freeman  completely  to  a  slave,  it  may 
not  be  possible  in  one  alone  to  restore  the  pris- 
tine manhood.  One  who  expects  to  find  in 
emancipated  slaves  complete  men  and  women,  or 
to  realize  in  them  some  fair  dream  of  an  ideal 
race,  will  meet  disappointment ;  but  there  is 
nothing  in  their  nature  or  condition  to  daunt  the 
Christian  patriot;  nay,  rather,  there  is  every 
thing  to  cheer  and  fortify  his  faith.  They  have 
shown  capacity  for  knowledge,  for  free  industry, 
for  subordination  to  law  and  discipline,  for  sol- 
dierly fortitude,  for  social  and  family  relations, 


for  religious  aspiration  and  culture;  and  these 
qualities,  stirred  and  sustained  by  the  activities 
and  rewards  of  a  just  society,  and  combining 
with  the  currents  of  our  continental  civilization, 
will,  under  the  guidance  of  a  benevolent  Provi- 
dence, which  forgets  neither  them  nor  us,  make 
them  a  constantly  progressive  race,  and  secure 
them  ever  after  from  the  calamity  of  another  en- 
slavement, and  ourselves  from  the  worse  calamity 
of  being  again  their  oppressors.         E.  L.  P. 

Boston,  May  1,  1863. 

Port  Royal,  February  3, 1862. 

To  the  Hon.  Salmon  P.  GJiasc.,  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury : 

Dear  Sir  :  My  first  communication  to  you  was 
mailed  on  the  third  day  after  my  arrrival.  The 
same  day  I  mailed  two  letters  to  benevolent  per- 
sons in  Boston,  mentioned  in  my  previous  com- 
munications to  you,  asking  for  contributions  of 
clothing,  and  for  a  teacher  or  missionary  to  be 
sent,  to  be  supported  by  the  charity  of  those  in- 
terested in  the  movement,  to  both  of  which  favor- 
able answers  have  been  received.  The  same  day 
I  commenced  a  tour  of  the  larger  islands,  and 
ever  since  have  been  diligently  engaged  in  anx- 
ious examination  of  the  modes  of  culture  —  the 
amount  and  proportions  of  the  products  —  the 
labor  required  for  them — the  life  and  disposition 
of  the  laborers  upon  them — their  estimated  num- 
bers—  the  treatment  they  have  received  from 
their  former  masters,  both  as  to  the  labor  re- 
quired, the  provisions  and  clothing  allowed,  and 
the  discipline  imposed— their  habits,  capacities, 
and  desires,  with  special  reference  to  their  being 
fitted  for  useful  citizenship — and  generally  what- 
ever concerned  the  well-being,  present  and  future, 
of  the  territory  and  its  people.  Visits  have  also 
been  made  to  the  communities  collected  at  Hilton 
Head  and  Beaufort,  and  conferences  held  with 
the  authorities,  both  naval  and  military,  and 
other  benevolent  persons  interested  in  the  wel- 
fare of  these  people,  and  the  wise  and  speedy  re- 
organization of  society  here.  No  one  can  be  im- 
pressed more  than  myself  with  the  uncertainty 
of  conclusions  drawn  from  experiences  and  re- 
flections gathered  in  so  brief  a  period,  however 
industriously  and  wisely  occupied.  Neverthe- 
less, they  may  be  of  some  service  to  those  who 
have  not  been  privileged  with  an  equal  oppor- 
tunity. 

Of  the  plantations  visited,  full  notes  have  been 
taken  of  seventeen,  with  reference  to  number  of 
negroes  in  all ;  of  field-hands  ;  amount  of  cotton 
and  corn  raised,  and  how  much  per  acre ;  time 
and  mode  of  producing  and  distributing  manure  ; 
listing,  planting,  cultivating,  picking,  and  ginning 
cotton ;  labor  required  of  each  hand ;  allowance 
of  food  and  clothing  \  the  capacities  of  the  labor- 


DOCUMmTS. 


303 


ers  ;  their  wishes  and  feelings,  both  as  to  them- 
selves and  their  masters.  Many  of  the  above 
points  could  be  determined  by  other  sources, 
such  as  persons  at  the  North  familiar  with  the 
region,  and  pubhcations.  The  inquiries  were, 
however,  made  with  the  double  purpose  of  ac- 
quiring the  information  and  testing  the  capacity 
of  the  persons  inquired  of  Some  of  the  leading 
results  of  the  examination  will  now  be  submitted. 

An  estimate  of  the  number  of  plantations  open 
to  cultivation,  and  of  the  persons  upon  the  terri- 
tory protected  by  the  forces  of  the  United  States, 
if  only  approximate  to  the  truth,  may  prove  con- 
venient in  providing  a  proper  system  of  adminis- 
tration. The  following  islands  are  thus  protected, 
and  the  estimated  number  of  plantations  upon 
each  is  given : 


Port  Royal,   65 

Ladies',   30 

Paris,  including  Horse,   6 

Cat,   1 

Gang,   1 

Dathaw,   4 

Coosaw,   2 

Morgan,   2 

St.  Helena,   50 

Hilton  Head,   16 

Pinckney,   5 

Bull,  including  Barratria,   2 

Daufuskie,   5 

Hutchinson  and  Fenwick,   6 


195 

Or  about  two  hundred  in  all. 

There  are  several  other  islands  thus  protected, 
without  plantations,  as  Otter,  Pritchard,  Fripp, 
Hunting,  and  Phillips.  Lemon  and  Daw  have 
not  been  explored  by  the  agents  engaged  in  col- 
lecting cotton. 

The  populous  island  of  Edisto  lying  in  the  di- 
rection of  Charleston,  and  giving  the  name  to 
the  finest  cotton,  is  still  visited  by  the  rebels. 
A  part  near  Botany  Bay  Island  is  commanded  by 
the  guns  of  one  of  our  war  vessels,  under  which 
a  colony  of  one  thousand  negroes  sought  protec- 
tion, where  they  have  been  temporarily  subsisted 
from  its  stores.  The  number  has  within  a  few 
days  been  stated  to  have  increased  to  two  thou- 
sand three  hundred.  Among  these  great  desti- 
tution is  said  to  prevail.  Even  to  this  number, 
as  the  negroes  acquire  confidence  in  us,  large  ad- 
ditions are  likely  every  v^'eek  to  be  made.  The 
whole  island  can  be  safely  farmed  as  soon  as 
troops  can  be  spared  for  the  purpose  of  occupa- 
tion. But  not  counting  the  plantations  of  this 
island,  the  number  on  Port  Royal,  Ladies',  St. 
Helena,  Hilton  Head,  and  the  smaller  islands, 
may  be  estimated  at  two  hundred. 

In  visiting  the  plantations,  I  endeavored  to  as- 
certain with  substantial  accuracy  the  number  of 
persons  upon  them,  without,  however,  expecting 
to  determine  the  precise  number.  On  that  of 
Thomas  Aston  Coffin,  at  Coffin  Point,  St.  He- 
lena, there  were  two  hundred  and  sixty,  the  lar- 


gest found  on  any  one  visited.  There  were  one 
hundred  and  thirty  on  that  of  Dr.  J.  W.  Jenkins, 
one  hundred  and  twenty  on  that  of  the  Eustis 
estate,  and  on  the  others  from  eighty  to  thir- 
ty-eight, making  an  average  of  eighty-one  to  a 
plantation.  These,  however,  may  be  ranked 
along  the  best  peopled  plantations,  and  forty  to 
each  may  be  considered  a  fair  average.  From 
these  estimates  there  results  a  population  of  eight 
thousand  negroes  on  the  islands  now  safely  pro- 
tected by  our  forces. 

Of  the  six  hundred  at  the  camp  at  Hilton 
Head,  about  one  half  should  be  counted  with  the 
aforesaid  plantations  whence  they  have  come. 
Of  the  six  hundred  at  Beaufort,  one  third  should 
also  bfe  reckoned  with  the  plantations.  The  other 
fraction  in  each  case  should  be  added  to  the  eight 
thousand  in  computing  the  population  now  thrown 
on  our  protection. 

The  negroes  on  Ladies'  and  St.  Helena  Islands, 
have  quite  generally  remained  on  their  respective 
plantations,  or  if  absent,  but  temporarily,  visiting 
wives  or  relatives.  The  dispersion  on  Port  Royal 
and  Hilton  Head  Islands  has  been  far  greater, 
the  people  of  the  former  going  to  Beaufort  in  con- 
siderable numbers,  and  of  the  latter  to  the  camp 
at  Hilton  Head. 

Counting  the  negroes  M'ho  have  gone  to  Hilton 
Head  and  Beaufort  from  places  now  protected  by 
our  forces  as  still  attached  to  the  plantations,  and 
to  that  extent  not  swelling  the  eight  thousand  on 
plantations,  but  adding  thereto  the  usual  negro 
population  of  Beaufort,  as  also  the  negroes  who 
have  fled  to  Beaufort  and  Hilton  Head  from  places 
not  yet  occupied  by  our  forces,  and  adding  also 
the  colony  at  Edisto,  and  we  must  now  have 
thrown  upon  our  hands,  for  whose  present  and 
future  vre  must  provide,  from  ten  thousand  to 
twelve  thousand  persons  —  probably  nearer  the 
latter  than  the  former  number.  This  number  is 
rapidly  increasing.  This  week,  forty-eight  es- 
caped from  a  single  plantation  near  Grahamville, 
on  the  main  land,  held  by  the  rebels,  led  by  the 
driver,  and  after  four  days  of  trial  and  peril,  hid- 
den by  day  and  threading  the  waters  with  their 
boats  by  night,  evading  the  enemy's  pickets,  joy 
fully  entered  our  camp  at  Hilton  Head.  The  ac 
cessions  at  Edisto  are  in  larger  number,  and  ac- 
cording to  the  most  reasonable  estimates,  it  would 
only  require  small  advances  by  our  troops,  not 
involving  a  general  engagement  or  even  loss  of 
life,  to  double  the  number  which  would  be  brought 
within  our  lines. 

A  fact  derived  from  the  census  of  1860  may 
serve  to  illustrate  the  responsibility  now  devolv- 
ing on  the  Government.  This  county  of  Beaufort 
had  a  population  of  slaves  in  proportion  of  82-^^0 
of  the  whole — a  proportion  only  exceeded  by 
seven  other  counties  in  the  United  States,  name- 
ly, one  in  South-Carolina,  that  of  Georgetown  ; 
three  in  Mississippi,  those  of  Bolivar,  Washing- 
ton, and  Issequena ;  and  three  in  Louisiana,  those 
of  Madison,  Tensas,  and  Coficordia, 

An  impression  prevails  that  the  negroes  here 
have  been  less  cared  for  than  in  most  other  rebel 
districts.    If  this  be  so,  and  a  beneficent  reform 


304 


EEBELLION  RECORD,  1862. 


shall  be  achieved  here,  the  experiment  may  any- 
where else  be  hopefully  attempted. 

The  former  white  population,  so  far  as  can  be 
ascertained,  are  rebels,  with  one  or  two  excep- 
tions. In  January,  1861,  a  meeting  of  the  plan- 
ters on  St.  Helena  Island  was  held,  of  which 
Thomas  Aston  Coffin  was  chairman.  A  vote  was 
passed,  stating  its  exposed  condition,  and  offer- 
ing their  slaves  to  the  Governor  of  South-Caro- 
lina, to  aid  in  building  earth  works,  and  calling 
on  him  for  guns  to  mount  upon  them.  A  copy  of 
the  vote,  probably  in  his  own  handwriting,  and 
signed  by  Mr.  Coffin,  was  found  in  his  house. 

It  is  worthy  of  note  that  the  negroes  now  with- 
in our  lines  are  there  by  the  invitation  of  no  one ; 
but  they  were  on  the  soil  when  our  army  began 
its  occupation,  and  could  not  have  been  excluded, 
except  by  violent  transportation.  A  small  pro- 
portion have  come  in  from  the  main  land,  evading 
the  pickets  of  l^e  enemy  and  our  own,  something 
easily  done  in  an  extensive  country,  with  whose 
woods  and  creeks  they  are  familiar. 

The  only  exportable  crop  of  this  region  is  the 
long  staple  Sea  Island  cotton,  raised  with  more 
difficulty  than  the  coarser  kind,  and  bringing  a 
higher  price.  The  agents  of  the  Treasury  De- 
partment expect  to  gather  some  two  million  five 
hundred  thousand  pounds  of  ginned  cotton  the 
present  j^ear,  nearly  all  of  which  had  been  picked 
and  stored  before  the  arrival  of  our  forces.  Con- 
siderable quantities  have  not  been  picked  at  all, 
but  the  crop  for  this  season  was  unusually  good. 
Potatoes  and  corn  are  raised  only  for  consumption 
on  the  plantations — corn  being  raised  at  the  rate 
of  only  twenty-five  bushels  per  acre. 

Such  features  in  plantation  life  as  will  throw 
light  on  the  social  questions  now  anxiously 
weighed  deserve  notice. 

In  this  region,  the  master,  if  a  man  of  wealth, 
is  more  likely  to  have  his  main  residence  at  Beau- 
fort, sometimes  having  none  on  the  plantation, 
but  having  one  for  the  driver,  who  is  always  a 
negro.  He  may,  however,  have  one,  and  an  ex- 
pensive one,  too,  as  in  the  case  of  Dr.  J enkins,  at 
St.  Helena,  and  yet  pass  most  of  his  time  at  Beau- 
fort, or  at  the  North.  The  plantation  in  such 
cases  is  left  almost  wholly  under  the  charge  of 
an  overseer.  In  some  cases  there  is  not  even  a 
house  for  an  overseer,  the  plantation  being  super- 
intended by  the  driver,  and  being  visited  by  the 
overseer  living  on  another  plantation  belonging  to 
the  same  owner.  The  houses  for  the  overseers 
are  of  an  undesirable  character.  Orchards  of 
orange  or  fig-trees  are  usually  planted  near  them. 

The  field-hands  are  generally  quartered  at  some 
distance — eighty  or  one  hundred  rods — from  the 
overseer's  or  master's  house,  and  are  ranged  in  a 
row,  sometimes  in  two  rows,  fronting  each  other. 
They  are  sixteen  feet  by  twelve,  each  appropriated 
to  a  family,  and  in  some  cases  divided  with  a 
partition.  They  numbered,  on  the  plantations 
visited,  from  ten  to  twenty,  and  on  the  Coffin 
plantation  they  are  double,  numbering  twenty- 
three  double  houses,  intended  for  forty-six  fami- 
lies. The  yards  seemed  to  s\varm  with  children, 
the  negroes  coupling  at  an  early  age. 


Except  on  Sundays,  these  people  do  not  take 
their  meals  at  a  family  table,  but  each  one  takes 
his  hominy,  bread,  or  potatoes,  sitting  on  the 
floor  or  a  bench,  and  at  his  own  time.  They  say 
their  masters  never  allowed  them  any  regular 
time  for  meals.  Whoever,  under  our  new  system, 
is  charged  with  their  superintendence  should  see 
that  they  attend  more  to  the  cleanliness  of  their 
persons  and  houses,  and  that,  as  in  families  of 
white  people,  they  take  their  meals  together  at  a 
table  —  habits  to  which  they  will  be  more  dis- 
posed when  they  are  provided  with  another  change 
of  clothing,  and  when  better  food  is  furnished 
and  a  proper  hour  assigned  for  meals. 

Upon  each  plantation  visited  by  me,  familiar 
conversations  were  had  with  several  laborers, 
more  or  less  extended  as  time  permitted  —  some- 
times inquiries  made  of  them,  as  they  collected  in 
groups,  as  to  what  they  desired  us  to  do  with  and 
for  them,  with  advice  as  to  the  course  of  sobriety 
and  industry  which  it  was  for  their  interest  to 
pursue  under  the  new  and  strange  circumstances 
in  which  they  were  now  placed.  Inquiries  as  to 
plantation  economy,  the  culture  of  crops,  the  im- 
plements still  remaining,  the  number  of  persons 
in  all,  and  of  field-hands,  and  the  rations  issued, 
were  made  of  the  drivers,  as  they  are  called,  an- 
swering as  nearly  as  the  two  different  systems  of 
labor  will  permit  to  foremen  on  farms  in  the  free 
States.  There  is  one  on  each  plantation— on  the 
largest  one  visited,  two.  They  still  remained  on 
each  visited,  and  their  names  were  noted.  The 
business  of  the  driver  was  to  superintend  the 
field-hands  generally,  and  see  that  their  tasks 
were  performed  fully  and  properly.  He  con- 
trolled them,  subject  to  the  master  or  overseer. 
He  dealt  out  the  rations.  Another  office  belonged 
to  him ;  he  was  required  by  the  master  or  over- 
seer, whenever  he  saw  fit,  to  inflict  corporal  pun- 
ishment upon  the  laborers  ;  nor  was  he  relieved 
from  this  office  when  the  subject  of  discipline  was 
his  wife  or  children.  In  the  absence  of  the  mas- 
ter and  overseer,  he  succeeded  to  much  of  their 
authority.  As  indicating  his  position  of  conse- 
quence, he  was  privileged  with  four  suits  of  cloth- 
ing a  year,  while  only  two  were  allowed  to  the 
laborers  under  him.  It  is  evident,  from  some  of 
the  duties  assigned  to  him,  that  he  must  have 
been  a  person  of  considerable  judgment  and  know- 
ledge of  plantation  economy,  not  differing  essen- 
tially from  that  required  of  the  foreman  of  a  farm 
in  the  free  States,  He  may  be  presumed  to  have 
known,  in  many  cases,  quite  as  much  about  the 
matters  with  which  he  was  charged  as  the  owner 
of  the  plantation,  who  often  passed  but  a  frac- 
tional part  of  his  time  upon  it. 

The  driver,  notwithstanding  the  dispersion  of 
other  laborers,  quite  generally  remains  on  the 
plantation,  as  already  stated.  He  still  holds  the 
keys  of  the  granary,  dealing  out  the  rations  of 
food,  and  with  the  same  sense  of  responsibility  as 
before.  In  one  case  I  found  him  in  a  controversy 
with  a  laborer,  to  whom  he  was  refusing  his  peck 
of  corn,  because  of  absence  with  his  wife  on  an- 
other plantation  when  the  corn  was  gathered — it 
being  gathered  since  the  arrival  of  our  army. 


DOCUMENTS.  305 


The  laborer  protested  warmly  that  he  had  helped 
to  plant  and  hoe  the  corn,  and  was  only  absent 
as  charged  because  of  sickness.  The  driver  ap- 
pealed to  me,  as  the  only  white  man  near,  and 
learning  from  other  laborers  that  the  laborer  was 
sick  at  the  time  of  gathering,  I  advised  the  driver 
to  give  him  his  peck  of  corn,  which  he  did  ac- 
cordingly. The  fact  is  noted  as  indicating  the 
present  relation  of  the  driver  to  the  plantation, 
where  he  still  retains  something  of  his  former 
authority. 

This  authority  is,  however,  very  essentially  di- 
minished. The  main  reason  is,  as  he  will  assure 
you,  that  he  has  now  no  white  man  to  back  him. 
Other  reasons  may,  however,  concur.  A  class 
of  laborers  are  generally  disposed  to  be  jealous 
of  one  of  their  own  number  promoted  to  be  over 
them,  and  accordingly  some  negroes,  evidently 
moved  by  this  feeling,  will  tell  you  that  the 
drivers  ought  now  to  work  as  field-hands,  and 
some  field-hands  be  drivers  in  their  place.  The 
driver  has  also  been  required  to  report  dehn- 
quencies  to  the  master  or  overseer,  and  upon 
their  order  to  inflict  corporal  punishment.  The 
laborers  will,  in  some  cases,  say  that  he  has  been 
harder  than  he  need  to  have  been,  while  he  will 
say  that  he  did  only  what  he  was  forced  to  do. 
The  complainants  who  have  sulfered  under  the 
lash  may  be  pardoned  for  not  being  sufficiently 
charitable  to  him  who  has  unwillingly  inflicted  it, 
v/hile,  on  the  other  hand,  he  has  been  placed  in  a 
dangerous  position,  where  a  hard  nature,  or  self- 
interest,  or  dislike  for  the  victim,  might  have 
tempted  him  to  be  more  cruel  than  his  position 
required.  The  truth,  in  proportions  impossible 
for  us  in  many  cases  to  fix,  may  lie  with  both 
parties.  I  am,  on  the  whole,  inclined  to  believe 
that  the  past  position  of  the  driver  and  his  valu- 
able knowledge,  both  of  the  plantations  and  the 
laborers,  when  properly  advised  and  controlled, 
may  be  made  available  in  securing  the  productive- 
ness of  the  plantations  and  the  good  of  the  labor- 
ers. It  should  be  added  that,  in  all  cases,  the 
drivers  were  found  very  ready  to  answer  inquiries 
and  communicate  information,  and  seemed  de- 
sirous that  the  work  of  the  season  should  be 
commenced.  , 

There  are  also  on  the  plantations  other  laborers, 
more  intelligent  than  the  average,  such  as  the 
carpenter,  the  ploughman,  the  religious  leader, 
who  may  be  called  a  preacher,  a  watchman,  or  a 
helper  —  the  two  latter  being  recognized  officers 
in  the  churches  of  these  people,  and  the  helpers 
being  aids  to  the  watchman.  These  persons, 
having  recognized  positions  among  their  fellows, 
either  by  virtue  of  superior  knowledge  or  devo- 
tion, when  properl}^  approached  by  us  may  be 
expected  to  have  a  beneficial  influence  on  the 
more  ignorant,  and  help  to  create  that  public 
opinion  in  favor  of  good  conduct  which,  among 
the  humblest  as  among  the  highest,  is  most  use- 
ful. I  saw  many  of  very  low  intellectual  devel- 
opment, but  hardly  any  too  low  to  be  reached  by 
civilizing  influences,  either  coming  directly  from 
us  or  mediately  through  their  brethren.  And 
while  I  saw  some  who  were  sadly  degraded,  I  met 


also  others  who  were  as  fine  specimens  of  human 
nature  as  one  can  ever  expect  to  find. 

Besides  attendance  on  churches  on  Sundays, 
there  are  evening  prayer-meetings  on  the  planta- 
tions as  often  as  once  or  twice  a  week,  occupied 
with  praying,  singing,  and  exhortations.  In  some 
cases  the  leader  can  read  a  hymn,  having  picked 
up  his  knowledge  clandestinely,  either  from  other 
negroes  or  from  white  children.  Of  the  adults, 
about  one  half,  at  least,  are  members  of  churches, 
generally  the  Baptist,  although  other  denomina- 
tions have  communicants  among  them.  In  the 
Baptist  church,  on  St.  Helena  Island,  which  I  vis- 
ited on  the  twenty-second  of  Januarj^,  there  were 
a  few  pews  for  the  proportionally  small  number 
of  white  attendants,  and  the  much  larger  space 
was  devoted  to  benches  for  colored  people.  On 
one  plantation  there  is  a  negro  chapel,  well  adapt- 
ed for  the  purpose,  built  by  the  proprietor,  the 
late  Mrs.  Eustis.  whose  memory  is  cherished  by 
the  negroes,  and  some  of  whose  sons  are  now 
loyal  citizens  of  Massachusetts,  i  have  heard 
among  the  negroes  scarcely  any  profane  swearing 
— not  more  than  twice— a  striking  contrast  with 
my  experience  among  soldiers  in  the  army. 

It  seemed  a  part  of  my  duty  to  attend  some  of 
the  religious  meetings  of  these  people  and  learn 
further  about  them  what  could  be  derived  from 
such  a  source.  Their  exhortations  to  personal 
piety  were  fervent,  and  though  their  language 
was  many  times  confused,  at  least  to  my  ear,  oc- 
casionally an  important  instruction  or  a  felicitous 
expression  could  be  recognized.  In  one  case,  a 
preacher  of  their  own,  commenting  on  the  text, 
"Blessed  are  the  meek,"  exhorted  his  brethren 
not  to  be  "  stout-minded."  On  one  plantation  on 
Ladies'  Island,  where  some  thirty  negroes  were 
gathered  in  the  evening,  I  read  passages  of  Scrip- 
ture, and  pressed  on  them  their  practical  duties 
at  the  present  time  with  reference  to  the  good  of 
themselves,  their  children,  and  their  people.  The 
passages  read  were  the  first  and  twenty-third 
Psalms  ;  the  sixty-first  chapter  of  Isaiah,  verses 
one  to  four ;  the  Beatitudes  in  the  fifth  chapter 
of  Matthew;  the  fourteenth  chapter  of  John's 
Gospel,  and  the  fifth  chapter  of  the  Epistle  of 
James.  In  substance  I  told  them  that  their  mas- 
ters had  rebelled  against  the  Government,  and  we 
had  come  to  put  down  the  rebellion  ;  that  we  had 
now  met  them,  and  wanted  to  see  what  was  best 
to  do  for  them ;  that  Mr.  Lincoln,  the  President 
or  Great  Man  at  Washington,  had  the  whole  mat- 
ter in  charge,  and  was  thinking  what  he  could  do 
for  them  ;  that  the  great  trouble  about  doing  any 
thing  for  them  was  that  their  masters  had  always 
told  us,  and  had  made  many  people  believe,  that 
they  were  lazy,  and  would  not  work  unless  whip- 
ped to  it ;  that  Mr.  Lincoln  had  sent  us  down 
here  to  see  if  it  was  so ;  that  what  they  did  was 
reported  to  him,  or  to  men  who  would  tell  hiui ; 
that  where  I  came  from  all  were  free,  both  white 
and  black ;  that  we  did  not  sell  children  or  sep- 
arate man  and  wife,  but  all  had  to  work ;  that  if 
they  were  to  be  free,  they  would  have  to  work, 
and  would  be  shut  up  or  deprived  of  privileges  if 
they  did  not ;  that  this  was  a  critical  hour  with 


306 


REBELLION  RECORD,  1862. 


them,  and  if  they  did  not  behave  well  now  and 
respect  our  agents  and  appear  willing  to  work, 
Mr.  Lincoln  would  give  up  trying  to  do  any  thing 
for  them,  and  they  must  give  up  all  hope  of  any 
thing  better,  and  their  children  and  grandchild- 
ren a  hundred  years  hence  would  be  worse  off 
than  they  had  been.  I  told  them  they  must  stick 
to  their  plantations  and  not  run  about  and  get 
scattered,  and  assured  them  that  what  their  mas- 
ters had  told  them  of  our  intention  to  carry  them 
off  to  Cuba  and  sell  them  was  a  lie,  and  their 
masters  knew  it  to  be  so,  and  we  wanted  them 
to  stay  on  the  plantations  and  raise  cotton,  and  if 
they  behaved  well,  they  should  have  wages  — 
small,  perhaps,  at  first ;  that  they  should  have 
better  food,  and  not  have  their  wives  and  child- 
ren sold  off ;  that  their  children  should  be  taught 
to  read  and  write,  for  which  they  might  be  will- 
ing to  pay  something ;  that  by  and  by  they  would 
be  as  well  off  as  the  white  people,  and  we  would 
stand  by  them  against  their  masters  ever  coming 
back  to  take  them.  The  importance  of  exerting 
a  good  influence  on  each  other,  particularly  on 
the  young  men,  who  were  rather  careless  and 
roving,  was  urged,  as  all  would  suffer  in  good  re- 
pute from  the  bad  deeds  of  a  few.  At  Hilton 
Head,  where  I  spoke  to  a  meeting  of  two  hundred, 
and  there  were  facts  calhng  for  the  counsel,  the 
women  were  urged  to  keep  away  from  the  bad 
white  men,  who  would  ruin  them.  Remarks  of 
a  like  character  were  made  familiarly  on  the  plan- 
tations to  such  groups  as  gathered  about.  At 
the  Hilton  Head  meeting,  a  good-looking  man, 
who  had  escaped  from  the  southern  part  of  Barn- 
well District,  rose  and  said,  with  much  feeling, 
that  he  and  many  others  should  do  all  they  could 
by  good  conduct  to  prove  what  their  masters  said 
against  them  to  be  false,  and  to  make  Mr.  Lincoln 
think  better  things  of  them.  After  the  meeting 
closed,  he  desired  to  know  if  Mr.  Lincoln  was 
coming  down  here  to  see  them,  and  he  wanted 
me  to  give  Mr.  Lincoln  his  compliments,  with  his 
name,  assuring  the  President  that  he  would  do 
all  he  could  for  him.  The  message  was  a  little 
amusing,  but  it  testified  to  the  earnestness  of  the 
simple-hearted  man.  He  had  known  Dr.  Bris- 
bane, who  had  been  compelled  some  years  since 
to  leave  the  South  because  of  his  sympathy  for 
slaves.  The  name  of  Mr.  Lincoln  was  used  in 
addressing  them,  as  more  likely  to  impress  them 
than  the  abstract  idea  of  government. 

It  is  important  to  add  that  in  no  case  have  I 
attempted  to  excite  them  by  insurrectionary  ap- 
peals against  their  former  masters,  feeling  that 
such  a  course  might  increase  the  trouble  of  or- 
ganizing them  into  a  peaceful  and  improving 
system,  under  a  just  and  healthful  temporary  dis- 
cipline ;  and  besides,  that  it  is  a  dangerous  expe- 
riment to  attempt  the  improvement  of  a  class  of 
men  by  appealing  to  their  coarser  nature.  The 
better  course  toward  making  them  our  faithful 
aUies,  and  therefore  the  constant  enemies  of  the 
rebels,  seemed  to  be  to  place  before  them  the 
good  things  to  be  done  for  them  and  their  child- 
ren, and  sometimes  reading  passages  of  Scripture 
appropriate  to  their  lot,  without,  however,  note 


or  comment,  never  heard  before  by  them,  or  heard 
only  when  wrested  from  their  just  interpretation  ; 
such,  for  instance,  as  the  last  chapter  of  St. 
James's  Epistle,  and  the  Glad  Tidings  of  Isaiah  : 
"  I  have  come  to  preach  deliverance  to  the  cap- 
tive." Thus  treated  and  thus  educated,  they  may 
be  hoped  to  become  useful  coadjutors,  and  the 
unconquerable  foes  of  the  fugitive  rebels. 

There  are  some  vices  charged  upon  these  people 
which  deserve  examination.  Notwithstanding 
their  religious  professions,  in  some  cases  more 
emotional  than  practical,  the  marriage  relation,  or 
what  answers  for  it,  is  not,  in  many  instances, 
held  very  sacred  by  them.  The  men,  it  is  said, 
sometimes  leave  one  wife  and  take  another,— 
something  likely  to  happen  in  any  society  where 
it  is  permitted  or  not  forbidden  by  a  stern  public 
opinion,  and  far  more  likely  to  happen  under  laws 
which  do  not  recognize  marriage,  and  dissolve 
what  answers  for  it  by  forced  separations,  dictat- 
ed by  the  mere  pecuniary  interest  of  others.  The 
women,  it  is  said,  are  easily  persuaded  by  white 
men,  —  a  facility  readily  accounted  for  by  the 
power  of  the  master  over  them,  whose  solicita- 
tion was  equivalent  to  a  command,  and  a,gainst 
which  the  husband  or  father  was  powerless  to 
protect,  and  increased  also  by  the  degraded  con- 
dition in  which  they  have  been  placed,  where 
they  have  been  apt  to  regard  what  ought  to  be  a 
disgrace  as  a  compliment,  when  they  were  ap- 
proached by  a  paramour  of  superior  condition  and 
race.  Yet  often  the  dishonor  is  felt,  and  the  wo- 
man, on  whose  several  children  her  master's  fea- 
tures are  impressed,  and  through  whose  veins  his 
blood  flows,  has  sadly  confessed  it  with  an  in- 
stinctive blush.  The  grounds  of  this  charge,  so 
far  as  they  may  exist,  will  be  removed,  as  much 
as  in  communities  of  our  own  race,  by  a  system 
which  shall  recognize  and  enforce  the  marriage 
relation  among  them,  protect  them  against  the 
solicitations  of  white  men  as  much  as  law  can, 
still  more  by  putting  them  in  relations  where  they 
will  be  inspired  with  self-respect  and  a  conscious- 
ness of  their  rights,  and  taught  by  a  pure  and 
plain-spoken  Christianity. 

In  relation  to  the  veracity  of  these  people,  so 
far  as  my  relations  with  them  have  extended,  they 
have  appeared,  as  a  class,  to  intend  to  tell  the 
truth.  Their  manner,  as  much  as  among  white 
men,  bore  instinctive  evidence  of  this  intention. 
Their  answers  to  inquiries  relative  to  the  man- 
agement of  the  plantations  have  a  general  concur- 
rence. They  make  no  universal  charges  of  cruelty 
against  their  masters.  They  will  say,  in  some 
cases,  that  their  own  was  a  very  kind  one,  but 
another  one  in  that  neighborhood  was  cruel.  On 
St.  Helena  Island  they  spoke  kindly  of  "  the  good 
William  Fripp,"  as  they  called  him,  and  of  Dr. 
Clarence  Fripp ;  but  they  all  denounced  the 
cruelty  of  Alvira  Fripp,  recounting  his  inhuman 
treatment  of  both  men  and  women,  xinother 
concurrence  is  worthy  of  note.  On  the  planta- 
tions visited,  it  appeared  from  the  statements  of 
the  laborers  themselves,  that  there  were,  on  an 
average,  about  one  hundred  and  thirty-three 
pounds  of  cotton  produced  to  the  acre,  and  five 


DOCUMENTS. 


307 


acres  of  cotton  and  corn  cultivated  to  a  hand,  the 
culture  of  potatoes  not  being  noted.  A  n  article 
of  the  American  Agriculturist^  published  in 
Turner's  Cotton  Manual^  pages  132,  133,  relative 
to  the  culture  of  Sea  Island  Cotton  on  the  plan- 
tation of  John  H.  Townsend,  states  that  the  land 
is  cultivated  in  the  proportion  of  seven  twelfths 
cotton,  three  twelfths  corn,  and  two  twelfths  po- 
tatoes— in  all,  less  than  six  acres  to  a  hand — and 
the  average  yield  of  cotton  per  acre  is  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty-five  pounds.  I  did  not  take  the 
statistics  of  the  culture  of  potatoes,  but  about  five 
acres  are  planted  with  them  on  the  smaller  plan- 
tations, and  twenty,  or  even  thirty,  on  the  larger ; 
and  the  average  amount  of  land  to  each  hand, 
planted  with  potatoes,  should  be  added  to  the 
five  acres  of  cotton  and  corn,  and  thus  results  not 
diifering  substantially  are  reached  in  both  cases. 
Thus  the  standard  publications  attest  the  verac- 
ity and  accuracy  of  these  laborers. 

Again,  there  can  be  no  more  delicate  and  re- 
sponsible position,  involving  honesty  and  skill, 
than  that  of  pilot.  For  this  purpose,  these  people 
are  every  day  employed  to  aid  our  military  and 
naval  operations  in  navigating  these  sinuous  chan- 
nels. They  were  used  in  the  recent  reconnoissance 
in  the  direction  of  Savannah  ;  and  the  success  of 
the  affair  at  Port  Royal  Ferry  depended  on  the 
fidelity  of  a  pilot,  William,  without  the  aid  of 
whom,  or  of  one  like  him,  it  could  not  have  been 
undertaken.  Further  information  on  this  point 
may  be  obtained  of  the  proper  authorities  here. 
These  services  are  not,  it  is  true,  in  all  respects, 
illustrative  of  the  quality  of  veracity,  but  they 
involve  kindred  virtues  not  likely  to  exist  with- 
out it. 

It  is  proper,  however,  to  state  that  expressions 
are  sometimes  heard  from  persons  who  have  not 
considered  these  people  thoughtfully,  to  the  effect 
that  their  word  is  not  to  be  trusted,  and  these 
persons,  nevertheless,  do  trust  them,  and  act  upon 
their  statements.  There  may,  however,  be  some 
color  for  such  expressions.  These  laborers,  like 
all  ignorant  people,  have  an  ill-regulated  reason, 
too  much  under  the  control  of  the  imagination. 
Therefore,  when  they  report  the  number  of  sol- 
diers, or  relate  facts  where  there  is  room  for  con- 
jecture, they  are  likely  to  be  extravagant,  and 
you  must  scrutinize  their  reports.  Still,  except 
among  the  thoroughly  dishonest, —  no  more  nu- 
merous among  them  than  in  other  races, —  there 
will  be  found  a  colorable  basis  for  their  state- 
ments, enough  to  show  their  honest  intention  to 
speak  truly. 

It  is  true  also  that  you  will  find  them  too  will- 
ing to  express  feelings  which  will  please  you. 
This  is  most  natural.  All  races,  as  well  as  all 
animals,  have  their  appropriate  means  of  self-de- 
fence, and  where  the  power  to  use  physical  force 
to  defend  one's  self  is  taken  away,  the  weaker 
animal,  or  man,  or  race,  resorts  to  cunning  and 
duplicity.  Whatever  habits  of  this  kind  may  ap- 
pear in  these  people  are  directly  traceable  to  the 
well-known  features  of  their  past  condition,  with- 
out involving  any  essential  proncness  to  decep- 
tion in  the  race,  further  than  may  be  ascribed  to 


human  nature.  Upon  this  point,  special  inquiries 
have  been  made  of  the  Superintendent  at  Hilton 
Head,  who  is  brought  in  direct  daily  association 
with  them,  and  whose  testimony,  truthful  as  he 
is,  is  worth  far  more  than  that  of  those  who  have 
had  less  nice  opportunities  of  observation,  and 
Mr.  Lee  certifies  to  the  results  here  presented. 

Upon  the  question  of  the  disposition  of  these 
people  to  work,  there  are  difierent  reports,  varied 
somewhat  by  the  impression  an  idle  or  an  indus- 
trious laborer,  brought  into  immediate  relation 
with  the  witness,  may  have  made  on  the  mind. 
In  conversations  with  them,  they  uniformly  an- 
swered to  assurances  that  if  free  they  must  work, 
"  Yes,  massa,  we  must  work  to  live ;  that's  the 
law  ;"  and  expressing  an  anxiety  that  the  work 
of  the  plantations  was  not  going  on.  At  Hilton 
Head,  they  are  ready  to  do  for  Mr.  Lee,  the  judi- 
cious Superintendent,  whatever  is  desired.  Hard 
words  and  epithets  are,  however,  of  no  use  in 
managing  them,  and  other  parties  for  whose  ser- 
vice they  are  specially  detailed,  who  do  not  un- 
derstand or  treat  them  properly,  find  some  trouble 
in  making  their  labor  available,  as  might  natur- 
ally be  expected.  In  collecting  cotton,  it  is  some- 
times, as  I  am  told,  difficult  to  get  them  together, 
when  wanted  for  work.  There  may  be  some- 
thing in  this,  particularly  among  the  young  men. 
I  have  observed  them  a  good  deal ;  and  though 
they  often  do  not  work  to  much  advantage, —  a 
dozen  doing  sometimes  what  one  or  two  stout  and 
well-trained  Northern  laborers  would  do,  and 
though  less  must  always  be  expected  of  persons 
native  to  this  soil  than  of  those  bred  in  Northern 
latitudes,  and  under  more  bracing  air, — I  have 
not  been  at  all  impressed  with  their  general  in- 
dolence. As  servants,  oarsmen,  and  carpenters, 
I  have  seen  them  working  faithfully  and  with  a 
will.  There  are  some  peculiar  circumstances  in 
their  condition,  which  no  one  who  assumes  to  sit 
in  judgment  upon  them  must  overlook.  They 
are  now,  for  the  first  time,  freed  from  the  restraint 
of  a  master,  and  like  children  whose  guardian  or 
teacher  is  absent  for  the  day,  they  may  quite  na- 
turally enjoy  an  interval  of  idleness.  No  system 
of  labor  for  them,  outside  of  the  camps,  has  been 
begun,  and  they  have  had  nothing  to  do  except 
to  bale  the  cotton  when  bagging  was  furnished, 
and  we  all  know  that  men  partially  employed  are, 
•if  any  thing,  less  disposed  to  do  the  little  assigned 
them  than  they  are  to  perform  the  full  measure 
which  belongs  to  them  in  regular  life,  the  virtue 
in  the  latter  case  being  supported  by  habit.  At 
the  camps,  they  are  away  from  their  accustomed 
places  of  labor,  and  have  not  been  so  promptly 
paid  as  could  be  desired,  and  are  exposed  to  the 
same  circumstances  which  often  dispose  soldiers 
to  make  as  little  exertion  as  possible.  In  the 
general  chaos  which  prevails,  and  before  the  in- 
spirations of  labor  have  been  set  before  them  by 
proper  superintendents  and  teachers  who  under- 
stand their  disposition,  and  show  by  their  con- 
duct an  interest  in  their  welfare,  no  humane  or 
reasonable  man  would  subject  them  to  austere 
criticism,  or  make  the  race  responsible  for  the 
delinquencies  of  an  idle  person,  who  happened  to 


.308 


REBELLION  RECORD,  1862. 


be  brought  particularly  under  his  own  observa- 
tion. Not  thus  would  we  have  ourselves  or  our 
own  race  judged ;  and  the  judgment  which  we 
would  not  have  meted  to  us,  let  us  not  measure 
to  others. 

Upon  the  best  examination  of  these  people, 
and  a  comparison  of  the  evidence  of  trustworthy 
persons,  I  believe  that  when  properly  organized, 
and  with  proper  motives  set  before  them,  they 
will,  as  freemen,  be  as  industrious  as  any  race  of 
men  are  likely  to  be  in  this  climate. 

The  notions  of  the  sacredness  of  property  as 
held  by  these  people  have  sometimes  been  the 
subject  of  discussion  here.  It  is  reported  that 
they  have  taken  things  left  in  their  masters' 
houses.  It  was  wise  to  prevent  this,  and  even 
where  it  had  been  done  to  compel  a  restoration, 
at  least  of  expensive  articles,  lest  they  should  be 
injured  by  speedily  acquiring,  without  purchase, 
articles  above  their  condition.  But  a  moment's 
reflection  will  show  that  it  was  the  most  natural 
thing  for  them  to  do.  They  had  been  occupants 
of  the  estates  ;  had  had  these  things  more  or  less 
in  charge,  and  when  the  former  owners  had  left, 
it  was  easy  for  them  to  regard  their  title  to  the 
abandoned  property  as  better  than  that  of  stran- 
gers. Still,  it  is  not  true  that  they  have,  except 
as  to  very  simple  articles,  as  soap  or  dishes,  gen- 
erally availed  themselves  of  such  property.  It  is 
also  stated  that  in  camps  where  they  have  been 
destitute  of  clothing,  they  have  stolen  from  each 
other,  but  the  superintendents  are  of  opinion  that 
they  would  not  ha^ie  done  this  if  already  well 
provided.  Besides,  those  familiar  with  large  bo- 
dies, collected  together,  like  soldiers  in  camp  life, 
know  how  often  these  charges  of  mutual  pilfering 
are  made  among  them,  often  with  great  injustice. 
It  should  be  added,  to  complete  the  statement, 
that  the  agents  who  have  been  intrusted  with  the 
collection  of  cotton  have  reposed  confidence  in 
the  trustworthiness  of  the  laborers,  committing 
property  to  their  charge — a  confidence  not  found 
to  have  been  misplaced. 

To  what  extent  these  laborers  desire  to  be  free, 
and  to  serve  us  still  further  in  putting  down  the 
rebellion,  has  been  a  subject  of  examination.  The 
desire  to  be  free  has  been  strongly  expressed, 
particularly  among  the  more  intelligent  and  ad- 
venturous. Every  day,  almost,  adds  a  fresh  tale 
of  escapes,  both  solitary  and  in  numbers,  con- 
ducted with  a  courage,  a  forecast,  and  a  skill  wor- 
thy of  heroes.  But  there  are  other  apparent  fea- 
tures in  their  disposition  which  it  would  be  un- 
truthful to  conceal.  On  the  plantations,  I  often 
found  a  disposition  to  evade  the  inquiry  whether 
they  wished  to  be  free  or  slaves ;  and  though  a 
preference  for  freedom  was  expressed,  it  was 
rarely  in  the  passionate  phrases  which  would 
come  from  an  Italian  peasant.  The  secluded  and 
monotonous  life  of  a  plantation,  with  strict  disci- 
pline and  ignorance  enforced  by  law  and  custom, 
is  not  favorable  to  the  development  of  the  richer 
sentiments,  though  even  there  they  find  at  least 
a  stunted  growth,  irrepressible  as  they  are.  The 
inquiry  was  often  answered  in  this  way  :  "The 
white  man  do  what  he  pleases  with  us ;  we  are 


yours  now,  massa."    One,  if  I  understood  his 
broken  words  rightly,  said  that  he  did  not  care 
about  being  free,  if  he  only  had  a  good  master. 
Others  said  they  would  hke  to  be  free,  but  they 
wanted  a  white  man  for  a  "  protector."    All  of 
proper  age,  when  inquired  of,  expressed  a  desire 
to  have  their  children  taught  to  read  and  write, 
and  to  learn  themselves.    On  this  point  they 
showed  more  earnestness  than  on  any  other. 
When  asked  if  they  were  willing  to  fight,  in  case 
we  needed  them,  to  keep  their  masters  from  com- 
ing back,  they  would  seem  to  shrink  from  that, 
saying  that  "black  men  have  been  kept  down  so 
like  dogs  that  they  would  run  before  white  men." 
At  the  close  of  the  first  week's  observation,  I  al- 
most concluded  that  on  the  plantations  there  was 
but  little  earnest  desire  for  freedom,  and  scarcely 
any  willingness  for  its  sake  to  encounter  white 
men.    But  as  showing  the  importance  of  not  at- 
tempting to  reach  general  conclusions  too  hastily, 
another  class  of  facts  came  to  my  notice  the  sec- 
ond week.  I  met  then  some  more  intelligent,  who 
spoke  with  profound  earnestness  of  their  desire  to 
be  free,  and  how  they  had  longed  to  see  this  day. 
Other  facts,  connected  with  the  military  and  na- 
val operations,  were  noted.    At  the  recent  recon- 
noissance  toward  Pulaski,  pilots  of  this  class 
stood  well  under  the  fire,  and  were  not  reluctant 
to  the  service.    When  a  district  of  Ladies'  Island 
was  left  exposed,  they  voluntarily  took  such  guns 
as  they  could  procure,  and  stood  sentries.  Also 
at  Edisto,  where  the  colony  is  collected  under  the 
protection  of  oar  gunboats,  they  armed  them- 
selves and  drove  back  the  rebel  cavalry.   An  offi- 
cer here  high  in  command  reported  to  me  some  of 
these  facts,  which  had  been  officially  communi- 
cated to  him.    The  suggestion  may  be  pertinent 
that  the  persons  in  question  are  divisible  into  two 
classes.    Those  who,  by  their  occupation,  have 
been   accustomed   to   independent   labor,  and 
schooled  in  some  sort  of  self-reliance,  are  more 
developed  in  this  direction ;  while  others,  who 
have  been  bound  to  the  routine  of  plantation  life, 
and  kept  more  strictly  under  surveillance,  are  but 
little  awakened.  But  even  among  these  last  there 
has  been,  under  the  quickening  inspiration  of 
present  events,  a  rapid  development,  indicating 
that  the  same  feeling  is  only  latent. 

There  is  another  consideration  which  must  not 
be  omitted.  Many  of  these  people  have  still  but 
little  confidence  in  us,  anxiously  looking  to  see 
what  is  to  be  our  disposition  of  them.  It  is  a 
mistake  to  suppose  that,  separated  from  the  world, 
never  having  read  a  Northern  book  or  newspaper 
relative  to  them,  or  talked  with  a  Northern  man 
expressing  the  sentiments  prevalent  in  his  region, 
they  are  universally  and  with  entire  confidence 
welcoming  us  as  their  deliverers.  Here,  as  every- 
where else,  where  our  army  has  met  them,  they 
have  been  assured  by  their  masters  that  we  were 
going  to  carry  them  off  to  Cuba.  There  is  prob- 
ably not  a  rebel  master,  from  the  Potomac  to  the 
Gulf,  who  has  not  repeatedly  made  this  assurance 
to  his  slaves.  No  matter  what  his  religious  vows 
may  have  been,  no  matter  what  his  professed 
honor  as  a  gentleman,  he  has  not  shrunk  from  the 


DOCTJMEXTS. 


300 


reiteration  of  this  falsehood.    Xever  was  there  a 
people,  as  all  who  know  them  will  testify,  more 
attached  to  familiar  places  than  they.    Be  their 
home  a  cabin,  and  not  even  that  cabin  their  own, 
they  still  cling  to  it.    The  reiteration  could  not 
fail  to  have  had  some  effect  on  a  point  on  which 
they  were  so  sensitive.    Often  it  must  have  been 
met  with  tmbelief  or  gi'eat  suspicion  of  its  truth. 
It  was  also  balanced  by  the  consideration  that 
their  masters  would  remove  them  into  the  interi- 
or, and  perhaps  to  a  remote  region,  and  separate 
theu^  families,  about  as  bad  as  being  taken  to  Cu- 
ba, and  they  felt  more  inclined  to  remain  on  the 
plantations,  and  take  then'  chances  with  us.  They 
have  told  me  that  they  reasoned  in  this  way.  But 
in  many  cases  they  fled  at  the  approach  of  our 
army.    Then  one  or  two  bolder  returning,  the 
rest  were  reassured  and  came  back.  Recently, 
the  laborers  on  Paris  Island,  seeing  some  schoon- 
ers approaching  suspiciously,  commenced  gather- 
ing their  little  effects  rapidly  together,  and  were 
about  to  run,  when  they  were  Cjuieted  by  some 
of  our  teachers  coming,  in  whom  they  had  confi- 
dence.   In  some  cases,  their  distrust  has  been 
increased  by  the  bad  conduct  of  some  irresponsi- 
ble white  men,  of  which,  for  the  honor  of  human 
nature,  it  is  not  best  to  speak  more  particularly.  I 
On  the  whole,  their  confidence  in  us  has  been  ; 
greatly  increased  by  the  treatment  they  have  re-  ' 
ceived,  which,  in  spite  of  many  individual  cases 
of  injury  less  likely  to  occur  under  the  stringent 
orders  recently  issued  from  the  naval  and  military 
authorities,  has  been  generally  kind  and  humane,  j 
But  the  distrust  which  to  a  greater  or  less  extent  j 
may  have  existed  on  our  arrival,  renders  neces- 1 
sar}',  if  we  would  keep  them  faithful  allies,  and  j 
not  informers  to  the  enemy,  the  immediate  adop-  j 
tion  of  a  S3'stem  which  shall  be  a  pledge  of  our 
protection  and  of  our  permanent  interest  in  their 
welfare. 

The  manner  of  the  laborers  toward  us  has  been 
kind  and  deferential,  doing  for  us  such  good 
offices  as  were  in  their  power,  as  guides,  pilots, 
or  in  more  personal  service,  inviting  us  on  the 
plantations  to  lunch  of  hominy  and  milk,  or  po- 
tatoes, touching  the  hat  in  courtesy,  and  answer- 
ing politely  such  questions  as  were  addressed  to 
them.  If  there  have  been  exceptions  to  this  rule, 
it  was  in  the  case  of  those  whose  bearing  did  not 
entitle  them  to  the  civility. 

Passing  from  general  phases  of  character  or 
present  disposition,  the  leading  facts  in  relation 
to  the  plantations  and  the  mode  of  rendering 
them  useful  and  determining  what  is  best  to  be 
done,  come  next  in  order. 

The  laborers  of  St.  Helena  and  Ladies'  Islands 
ver}-  generally  remain  on  their  respective  planta- 
tions. This  fact,  arising  parth'  from  local  attach- 
ment and  partly  because  they  can  thus  secure 
their  allowance  of  corn,  is  important,  as  it  will 
facihtate  their  redrganization.  Some  are  absent 
temporarily,  visiting  a  wife  or  relative  on  another 
plantation,  and  returning  periodically  for  their  ra- 
tions. The  disposition  to  roam,  so  far  as  it  ex- 
ists, mainly  belongs  to  the  younger  people.  On 
Port  Royal  and  Hilton  Head  Islands,  there  is  a 


much  greater  dispersion,  due  in  part  to  their  hav 
^  ing  been  the  scene  of  more  active  military  move- 
ments, and  in  part  to  the  taking  in  gTeater  mea- 
;  sure  on  these  islands  of  the  means  of  subsistence 
fi^om  the  plantations.    When  the  work  recom- 
,  mences,  however,  there  is  not  likely  to  be  any 
,  indisposition  to  return  to  them. 
'     The  statistics  with  regard  to  the  number  of 
laborers,  field-hands,  acres  planted  to  cotton  and 
corn,  are  not  presented  as  accurate  statements, 
but  only  as  reasonable  approximations,  which 
may  be  of  service. 

:     The  highest  number  of  people  on  any  planta- 
tion  visited  was  on  Coffin's,  where  there  are  two 
'  hundred  and  sixty.    Those  on  the  plantation  of 
Dr.  Jenkins  number  one  hundred  and  thirty  ;  on 
•  that  of  the  Eustis  estate,  one  hundred  and  twen- 
,  ty  ;  and  on  the  others,  from  eighty  to  thirty-eight. 
;  The  average  number  on  each  is  eighty-one.  The 
:  field-hands  range  generally  from  one  third  to  one 
I  half  of  the  number,  the  rest  being  house  servants, 
;  old  persons,  and  children.    About  five  acres  of 
i  cotton  and  corn  are  planted  to  a  hand ;  and  of 
potatoes,  about  five  acres  in,  all  were  planted  on 
,  the  smaller  plantations,  and  fi-om  twenty  to  thirty 
'  on  the  larger. 

!     The  number  of  pounds  in  a  bale  of  ginned  cot- 
;  ton  ranges  from  three  to  four  hundred,  the  ave- 
'  rage  number  being  not  far  from  three  hundred 
and  forty-five  pounds  per  bale.    The  average 
yield  per  acre  on  fifteen  plantations  was  about 
one  hundi'ed  and  thirty-three  pounds. 

The  material  for  compost  is  gathered  in  the  pe- 
riods of  most  leisure — often  in  July  and  August, 
after  the  cultivation  of  the  cotton  plant  is  ended, 
and  before  the  picking  has  commenced.  Various 
materials  are  used,  but  quite  generally  mud  and 
the  coarse  marsh  grass,  which  abounds  on  the 
creeks  near  the  plantations,  are  employed.  The 
manure  is  carted  upon  the  land  in  January  and 
February,  and  left  in  heaps,  two  or  three  cart- 
loads on  each  task,  to  be  spread  at  the  time  of 
listing.  The  land,  by  prevailing  custom,  lies  fal- 
low a  year.  The  cotton  and  corn  are  planted  in 
elevated  rows  or  beds.  The  next  step  is  the  list- 
ing, done  with  the  hoe,  and  making  the  bed  where 
the  alleys  were  at  the  previous  raising  of  the  crop, 
and  the  alleys  being  made  where  the  beds  were 
before.  In  this  process,  half  the  old  bed  is  hauled 
into  the  alley  on  the  one  side,  and  the  other  half 
into  the  alley  on  the  other.  This  work  is  done 
mainly  in  .February,  being  commenced  sometimes 
the  last  of  January.  A  "task''  is  one  hundred 
and  five  feet  square,  and  contains  twenty-one  or 
twenty-two  beds  or  rows.  Each  laborer  is  re- 
quu-ed  to  list  a  task  and  a  half,  or  if  the  land  is 
moist  and  heavy,  a  task  and  five  or  seven  beds, 
say  one  fourth  or  three  eighths  of  an  acre. 

The  planting  of  cotton  commences  about  the 
twentieth  or  last  of  ^larch,  and  of  corn  about  the 
same  time  or  earlier.  It  is  continued  through 
April,  and  by  some  planters  it  is  not  begun  fill 
April.  The  seeds  are  deposited  in  the  beds,  a 
foot  or  a  foot  and  a  half  apart  on  light  land,  and 
two  feet  apart  on  heavy  land,  and  five  or  ten 
seeds  left  in  a  place.  AVhile  the  plant  is  growins:, 


t 


310 


REBELLION  RECORD,  1862. 


the  stalks  are  thinned  so  as  to  leave  two  together 
on  high  land,  and  one  by  itself  on  low  or  rich 
land.  The  hoeing  of  the  early  cotton  begins 
about  the  time  that  the  planting  of  the  late  has 
ended.  The  plant  is-  cultivated  with  tlie  hoe  and 
plough  during  May,  June,  and  July,  keeping  the 
weeds  down  and  thinning  the  stalks.  The  picking 
commences  the  last  of  August.  The  cotton  be- 
ing properly  dried  in  the  sun,  is  then  stored  in 
houses,  ready  to  be  ginned.  The  ginning,  or 
cleaning  the  fibre  from  the  seed,  is  done  either  by 
gins  operated  by  steam  or  by  the  well-known 
foot-gins — the  latter  turning  out  about  thirty 
pounds  of  ginned  cotton  per  day,  and  worked  by 
one  person,  assisted  by  another,  who  picks  out 
the  specked  and  yellow  cotton.  The  steam-en- 
gine carries  one  or  more  gins,  each  turning  out 
three  hundred  pounds  per  day,  and  requiring 
eight  or  ten  hands  to  tend  the  engine  and  gins, 
more  or  less,  according  to  the  number  of  the  gins. 
The  foot-gins  are  still  more  used  than  the  gins 
operated  by  steam,  the  latter  being  used  mainly 
on  the  largest  plantations,  on  which  both  kinds 
are  sometimes  employed.  I  have  preserved  notes 
of  the  kind  and  number  of  gins  used  on  the  plan- 
tations visited,  but  it  is  unnecessary  to  give  them 
here.  Both  kinds  can  be  run  entirely  by  the  la- 
borers, and  after  this  year,  the  ginning  should  be 
done  wholly  here — among  other  reasons,  to  avoid 
transportation  of  the  seed,  which  makes  nearly 
three  fourths  of  the  weight  of  the  unginned  cot- 
ton, and  to  preserve  in  better  condition  the  seed 
required  for  planting. 

The  allowance  of  clothing  to  the  field-hands  in 
this  district  has  been  two  suits  per  year,  one  for 
summer  and  another  for  winter.  That  of  food 
has  been  mainly  vegetable — a  peck  of  corn  a 
week  to  each  hand,  with  meat  only  in  J une,  when 
the  work  is  hardest,  and  at  Christmas.  No  meat 
was  allowed  in  June  on  some  plantations,  while 
on  a  few  more  liberal  it  was  dealt  out  occasion- 
ally, as  once  a  fortnight  or  once  a  month.  On  a 
few,  molasses  was  given  at  intervals.  Children, 
varying  with  their  ages,  were  allowed  from  two 
to  six  quarts  of  corn  per  week.  The  diet  is  more 
exclusively  vegetable  here  than  almost  anywhere 
in  the  rebellious  region,  and  in  this  respect  should 
be  changed.  It  should  be  added,  that  there  is  a 
large  quantity  of  oysters  available  for  food  in 
proper  seasons. 

Besides  the  above  rations,  the  laborers  were 
allowed  each  to  cultivate  a  small  patch  of  ground, 
about  a  quarter  of  an  acre,  for  themselves,  when 
their  work  for  their  master  was  done.  On  this, 
corn  and  potatoes,  chiefly  the  former,  were  plant- 
ed. The  corn  was  partly  eaten  by  themselves, 
thus  supplying  in  part  the  deficiency  in  rations ; 
but  it  was,  to  a  great  extent,  fed  to  a  pig  or 
chickens,  each  hand  being  allowed  to  keep  a  pig 
and  chickens  or  ducks,  but  not  geese  or  turkeys. 
With  the  proceeds  of  the  pig  and  chickens,  gene- 
rally sold  to  the  masters,  and  at  pretty  low  rates, 
extra  clothing,  coffee,  sugar,  and  that  necessary 
of  life  with  these  people,  as  they  think,  tobacco, 
were  bought. 

In  the  report  thus  far,  such  facts  in  the  condi- 


tion of  the  territory  now  occupied  by  the  forces 
of  the  United  States  have  been  noted  as  seemed 
to  throw  light  on  what  could  be  done  to  reorgan- 
ize the  laborers,  prepare  them  to  become  sober 
and  self-supporting  citizens,  and  secure  the  suc- 
cessful culture  of  a  cotton-crop,  now  so  necessary 
to  be  contributed  to  the  markets  of  the  world. 
It  will  appear  from  them  that  these  people  are 
naturally  religious  and  simple-hearted — attached 
to  the  places  where  they  have  lived,  still  adhering 
to  them  both  from  a  feeling  of  local  attachment 
and  self-interest  in  securing  the  means  of  subsist- 
ence ;  that  they  have  the  knowledge  and  expe- 
rience requisite  to  do  all  the  labor,  from  the  pre- 
paration of  the  ground  for  planting  until  the 
cotton  is  baled,  ready  to  be  exported ;  that  they, 
or  the  great  mass  of  them,  are  disposed  to  labor, 
with  proper  inducements  thereto ;  that  they  lean 
upon  white  men,  and  desire  their  protection,  and 
could,  therefore,  under  a  wise  system,  be  easily 
brought  under  subordination ;  that  they  are  sus- 
ceptible to  the  higher  considerations,  as  duty  and 
the  love  of  offspring,  and  are  not  in  any  way  in- 
herently vicious,  their  defects  coming  from  their 
peculiar  condition  in  the  past  or  present,  and  not 
from  constitutional  proneness  to  evil  beyond  what 
may  be  attributed  to  human  nature ;  that  they 
have  among  them  natural  chiefs,  either  by  virtue 
of  religious  leadership  or  superior  intelligence, 
who,  being  first  addressed,  may  exert  a  healthful 
influence  on  the  rest ;  in  a  word,  that,  in  spite  of 
their  condition,  reputed  to  be  worse  here  than  in 
many  other  parts  of  the  rebellious  region,  there 
are  such  features  in  their  life  and  character,  that 
the  opportunity  is  now  offered  to  us  to  make  of 
them,  partially  in  this  generation,  and  fully  in 
the  next,  a  happy,  industrious,  law-abiding,  free 
and  Christian  people,  if  we  have  but  the  courage 
and  patience  to  accept  it.  If  this  be  the  better 
view  of  them  and  their  possibilities,  I  will  say 
that  I  have  come  to  it  after  anxious  study  of  all 
peculiar  circumstances  in  their  lot  and  character, 
and  after  anxious  conference  with  reflecting  minds 
here,  who  are  prosecuting  like  inquiries,  not  over- 
looking what,  to  a  casual  spectator,  might  appear 
otherwise,  and  granting  what  is  likely  enough, 
that  there  are  those  among  them  whose  charac- 
ters, by  reason  of  bad  nature  or  treatment,  are 
set,  and  not  admitting  of  much  improvement. 
And  I  will  submit  further,  that,  in  common  fair- 
ness and  common  charity,  when,  by  the  order  of 
Providence,  an  individual  or  a  race  is  committed 
to  our  care,  the  better  view  is  entitled  to  be  first 
practically  applied.  If  this  one  shall  be  accepted 
and  crowned  with  success,  history  will  have  the 
glad  privilege  of  recording  that  this  wicked  and 
unprovoked  rebellion  was  not  without  compensa- 
tions most  welcome  to  our  race. 

What,  then,  should  be  the  true  system  of  ad- 
ministratioji  here  ? 

It  has  been  proposed  to  lease  the  plantations 
and  the  people  upon  them.  To  this  plan  there 
are  two  objections — each  conclusive.  In  the  fii  st 
place,  the  leading  object  of  the  parties  bidding 
for  leases  would  be  to  obtain  a  large  immediate 
revenue — perhaps  to  make  a  fortune  in  a  year  or 


DOCUMENTS. 


311 


two.  The  solicitations  of  doubtful  men,  offering 
the  highest  price,  would  impose  on  the  leasing 
power  a  stern  duty  of  refusal,  to  which  it  ought 
not  unnecessarily  to  be  subjected.  Far  better  a 
system  which  shall  not  invite  such  men  to  harass 
the  leasing  power,  or  excite  expectations  of  a 
speedy  fortune,  to  be  derived  from  the  labor  of 
this  people.  Secondly,  no  man,  not  even  the 
best  of  men,  charged  with  the  duties  which  ought 
to  belong  to  the  guardians  of  these  people,  should 
be  put  in  a  position  where  there  would  be  such 
a  conflict  between  his  humanity  and  his  self-in- 
terest— his  desire,  on  the  one  hand,  to  benefit  the 
laborer,  and,  on  the  other,  the  too  often  strong- 
er desire  to  reap  a  large  revenue — perhaps  to  re- 
store broken  fortunes  in  a  year  or  two.  Such  a 
S3^stem  is  beset  with  many  of  the  worst  vices  of 
the  slave  system,  with  one  advantage  in  favor  of 
the  latter,  that  it  is  for  the  interest  of  the  plant- 
er to  look  to  permanent  results.  Let  the  history 
of  British  East-India,  and  of  all  communities 
where  a  superior  race  has  attempted  to  build  up 
speedy  fortunes  on  the  labor  of  an  inferior  race 
occupying  another  region,  be  remembered,  and 
no  just  man  will  listen  to  the  proposition  of  leas- 
ing, fraught  as  it  is  vrith  such  dangerous  conse- 
quences. Personal  confidence  forbids  me  to  re- 
port the  language  of  intense  indignation  which 
has  been  expressed  against  it  here  by  some  occu- 
pying high  places  of  command,  as  also  by  others 
who  have  come  here  for  the  special  purpose  of 
promoting  the  welfare  of  these  laborers.  Per- 
haps it  might  yield  to  the  treasury  a  larger  im- 
mediate revenue,  but  it  would  be  sure  to  spoil 
the  country  and  its  people  in  the  end.  The  Gov- 
ernment should  be  satisfied  if  the  products  of  the 
territory  may  be  made  sufficient  for  a  year  or 
two  to  pay  the  expenses  of  administration  and 
superintendence,  and  of  the  inauguration  of  a 
beneficent  system  which  will  settle  a  great  social 
question,  insure  the  sympathies  of  foreign  na- 
tions, now  wielded  against  us,  and  advance  the 
civilization  of  the  age. 

The  better  course  would  be  to  appoint  super- 
intendents for  each  large  plantation,  and  one  for 
two  or  three  smaller  combined,  compensated  with 
a  good  salary,  say  one  thousand  dollars  per  3'ear, 
selected  with  reference  to  peculi;>r  qualifications, 
and  as  carefully  as  one  would  choose  a  guardian 
for  his  children,  clothed  with  an  adequate  power 
to  enforce  a  paternal  discipline,  to  require  a  pro- 
per amount  of  labor,  cleanliness,  sobrijety,  and 
better  habits  of  life,  and  generally  to  promote 
the  moral  and  intellectual  culture  of  the  wards, 
with  such  other  inducements,  if  there  be  any, 
placed  before  the  superintendent  as  shall  inspire 
him  to  constant  efforts  to  prepare  them  for  useful 
and  worth}'  citizenship.  To  quicken  and  insure 
the  fidelity  of  the  superintendents,  there  should 
be  a  director-general  or  governor,  who  shall  visit 
the  plantations,  and  see  that  they  are  discharging 
these  duties,  and,  if  necessary,  he  should  be  aid- 
ed by  others  in  the  duty  of  visitation.  This  olfi 
cer  should  be  invested  with  liberal  powers  over 
all  persons  within  his  jurisdiction,  so  as  to  pro- 
tect the  blacks  from  each  other  and  from  white 


men,  being  required,  in  most  important  cases  to 
confer  with  the  mihtary  authorities  in  punishing 
offences.  His  proposed  duties  indicate  that  he 
should  be  a  man  of  the  best  ability  and  charac- 
ter ;  better  if  he  have  already,  by  virtue  of  public 
services,  a  hold  on  the  public  confidence.  Such 
an  arrangement  is  submitted  as  preferable  for  the 
present  to  any  cumbersome  territorial  government 

The  laborers  themselves,  no  longer  slaves  of 
their  former  masters,  or  of  the  Government,  but 
as  yet  in  large  numbers  unprepared  for  the  full 
privileges  of  citizens,  are  to  be  treated  with  sole 
reference  to  such  preparation.  No  effort  is  to  be 
spared  to  work  upon  their  better  nature  and  the 
motives  which  come  from  it — the  love  of^wages, 
of  offspring,  and  of  famil}^,  the  desire  of  happiness, 
and  the  obhgations  of  religion.  And  when  these 
fail, — and  fail  they  will,  in  some  c-ases, — we  must 
not  hesitate  to  resort,  not  to  the  lash, — for  as  from 
the  department  of  war,  so  also  from  the  depart- 
ment of  labor,  it  must  be  banished, — but  to  the 
milder  and  more  effective  punishments  of  depriv- 
ation of  privileges,  isolation  from  family  and  so- 
ciety, the  workhouse,  or  even  the  prison.  The 
laborers  are  to  be  assured  at  the  outset  that 
parental  and  conjugal  relations  among  them  are 
to  be  protected  and  enforced ;  that  children,  and 
all  others  desiring,  are  to  be  taught ;  that  they 
will  receive  wages;  and  that  a  certain  just  meas- 
ure of  work,  with  reference  to  the  ability  to  per- 
form it,  if  not  willingl}^  rendered,  is  to  be  required 
of  all.  The  work,  so  far  as  the  case  admits, 
should  be  assigned  in  proper  tasks,  the  standard 
being  what  a  healthy  person  of  average  capacity 
can  do,  for  which  a  definite  sum  is  to  be  paid. 
The  remark  may  perhaps  be  pertinent,  that,  what- 
ever may  have  been  the  case  with  women  or  par- 
tially disabled  persons,  my  observations,  not  3'et 
sufficient  to  decide  the  point,  have  not  impressed 
me  with  the  conviction  that  healthy  persons,  if 
they  had  been  provided  with  an  adequate  amount 
of  food,  and  that  animal  in  due  proportion,  have 
been  overworked  heretofore  on  these  islands,  the 
main  trouble  having  been  that  they  have  not 
been  so  provided,  and  have  not  had  the  motives 
which  smooth  labor.  Notwithstanding  the  fre- 
quent and  severe  chastisements  which  have  been 
employed  here  in  exacting  work,  the}^  have  failed, 
and  naturally  enough,  of  their  intended  elfects. 
Human  beings  are  made  up  so  much  more  of 
spirit  than  of  muscle,  that  compulsory  labor,  en- 
forced by  physical  pain,  will  not  exceed  or  tqual, 
in  the  long  run,  voluntary  labor  v»  ith  just  inspira- 
tions ;  and  the  same  law  in  less  degree  m.ay  be 
seen  in  the  difference  between  the  value  of  a 
whipped  and  jaded  beast,  and  one  well  disci- 
phned  and  kindly  treated. 

What  should  be  the  standard  of  M'ages  where 
none  have  heretofore  been  paid,  is  less  easy  to 
determine.  It  should  be  graduated  with  refer- 
ence to  the  wants  of  the  laborer  and  the  ability 
of  the  employer  or  Government;  and  this  abihty 
being  determined  by  the  value  of  the  products  of 
the  labor,  and  the  most  that  should  be  expected 
being,  that  for  a  year  or  two  the  system  should 
not  be  a  burden  on  the  treasmy.    Talcing  into 


312 


REBELLION  RECORD,  1862. 


consideration  the  cost  of  food  and  clothing,  medi- 
cal attendance  and  extras,  supposing  that  the 
laborer  would  require  rations  of  pork  or  beef, 
meal,  coffee,  sugar,  molasses  and  tobacco,  and 
that  he  would  work  three  hundred  days  in  the 
year,  he  should  receive  about  forty  cents  a  day 
in  order  to  enable  him  to  lay  up  thirty  dollars  ti 
year ;  and  each  healthy  woman  could  do  about 
equally  well.  Three  hundred  days  in  a  year  is, 
perhaps,  too  high  an  estimate  of  working-days, 
when  we  consider  the  chances  of  sickness  and 
days  when,  by  reason  of  storms  and  other  causes, 
there  would  be  no  work.  It  is  assumed  that  the 
laborer  is  not  to  pay  rent  for  the  small  house 
tenanted  by  him.  When  the  average  number  of 
acres  cultivated  by  a  hand,  and  the  average  yield 
per  acre  are  considered  with  reference  to  market 
prices,  or  when  the  expense  of  each  laborer  to 
his  former  master,  the  interest  on  his  assumed 
value  and  on  the  value  of  the  land  worked  by 
him, — these  being  the  elements  of  what  it  has 
cost  the  master  before  making  a  profit, — are  com- 
puted, the  Government  could  afford  to  pay  this 
sum,  leaving  an  ample  margin  to  meet  the  cost 
of  the  necessary  implements,  as  well  as  of  super- 
intendence and  administration.  The  figures  on 
which  this  estimate  is  based  are  at  the  service  of 
the  department  if  desired.  It  must  also  be  borne 
in  mind  that  the  plantations  will  in  the  end  be 
carried'  on  more  scientifically  and  cheaply  than 
before,  the  plough  taking  very  much  the  place  of 
the  hoe,  and  other  implements  being  introduced 
to  facilitate  industry  and  increase  the  productive 
power  of  the  soil. 

It  being  important  to  preserve  all  former  habits 
which  are  not  objectionable,  the  laborer  should 
have  his  patch  of  ground  on  which  to  raise  corn 
or  vegetables  for  consumption  or  sale. 

As  a  part  of  the  plan  proposed,  missionaries 
will  be  needed  to  address  the  religious  element 
of  a  race  so  emotional  in  their  nature,  exhorting 
to  all  practical  virtues,  and  inspiring  the  laborers 
with  a  religious  zeal  for  faithful  labor,  the  good 
nurture  of  their  children,  and  for  clean  and 
healthful  habits.  The  benevolence  of  the  free 
States,  now  being  directed  hither,  will  gladly 
provide  these.  The  Government  should,  how- 
ever, provide  some  teachers  specially  devoted  to 
teaching  reading,  writing  and  arithmetic,  say 
some  twenty-five  for  the  territory  now  occupied 
by  our  forces,  and  private  benevolence  might 
even  be  relied  on  for  these. 

The  plan  proposed  is,  of  course,  not  presented 
as  an  ultimate  result :  far  from  it.  It  contem- 
plates a  paternal  discipline  for  the  time  being, 
intended  for  present  use  only,  with  the  prospect 
of  better  things  in  the  future.  As  fast  as  the 
laborers  show  themselves  fitted  for  all  the  privi- 
leges of  citizens,  they  should  be  dismissed  from 
the  system  and  allowed  to  follow  any  employ- 
ment they  please,  and  where  they  please.  They 
should  have  the  power  to  acquire  the  fee  simple 
of  land,  either  with  the  proceeds  of  their  labor  or 
as  a  reward  of  special  merit ;  and  it  would  be  well 
to  quicken  their  zeal  for  good  behavior  by  proper 
recognitions.    I  shall  not  follow  these  suggestions 


as  to  the  future  further,  contenting  myself  with 
indicating  what  is  best  to  be  done  at  once  with  a 
class  of  fellow-beings  now  thrown  on  our  protec- 
tion, entitled  to  be  recognized  as  freemen,  but  for 
whose  new  condition  the  former  occupants  of  the 
territory  have  diligently  labored  to  unfit  them. 

But  whatever  is  thought  best  to  be  done,  should 
be  done  at  once.  A  system  ought  to  have  been 
commenced  with  the  opening  of  the  year.  Be- 
sides that,  demoralization  increases  with  delay. 
The  months  of  January  and  February  are  the 
months  for  preparing  the  ground  by  manuring 
and  listing,  and  the  months  of  March  and  April 
are  for  planting.  Already  important  time  has 
passed,  and  in  a  very  few  weeks  it  will  be  too 
late  to  prepare  for  a  crop,  and  too  late  to  assign 
useful  work  to  the  laborers  for  a  year  to  come.  I 
implore  the  immediate  intervention  of  your  de- 
partment to  avert  the  calamities  which  must  en- 
sue from  a  further  postponement. 

There  is  another  precaution  most  necessary  to 
be  taken.  As  much  as  possible,  persons  enlisted 
in  the  army  and  navy  should  be  kept  separate 
from  these  people.  The  association  produces  an 
unhealthy  excitement  in  the  latter,  and  there  are 
other  injurious  results  to  both  parties  which  it  is 
unnecessary  to  particularize.  In  relation  to  this 
matter,  I  had  an  interview  with  the  Flag-Officer, 
Commodore  Du  Pont,  which  resulted  in  an  order 
that  no  boats  from  any  of  the  ships  of  the 
squadron  can  be  permitted  to  land  anywhere  but 
at  Bay  Point  and  Hilton  Head,  without  a  pass 
from  the  Fleet  Captain,"  and  requiring  the  com- 
manding officers  of  the  vessels  to  give  special  at- 
tention to  all  intercourse  between  the  men  under 
their  command  and  the  various  plantations  in 
their  vicinity.  Whatever  can  be  accomplished 
to  that  end  by  this  humane  and  gallant  officer, 
who  superadds  to  skill  and  courage  in  his  pro- 
fession the  liberal  views  of  a  statesman,  will  not 
be  left  undone.  The  suggestion  should  also  be 
made  that,  when  employment  is  given  to  this 
people,  some  means  should  be  taken  to  enable 
them  to  obtain  .suitable  goods  at  fair  rates,  and 
precautions  taken  to  prevent  the  introduction  of 
ardent  spirits  among  them. 

A  loyal  citizen  of  Massachusetts,  Mr.  Frede- 
rick A.  Eustis,  has  recently  arrived  here.  He  is 
the  devisee  in  a  considerable  amount  under  the 
will  of  the  late  Mrs.  Eustis,  who  owned  the  large 
estate  on  Ladies'  Island,  and  also  another  at 
Pocotaligo,  the  latter  not  yet  in  possession  of 
our  forces.  The  executors  are  rebels,  and  reside 
at  Charleston,  Mr.  Eustis  has  as  yet  received 
no  funds  by  reason  of  the  devise.  There  are  two 
other  loyal  devisees  and  some  other  devisees  re- 
sident in  rebellious  districts,  and  the  latter  are 
understood  to  have  received  dividends.  Mr.  Eus- 
tis is  a  gentleman  of  humane  and  liberal  views, 
and,  accepting  the  present  condition  of  things, 
desires  that  the  people  on  these  plantations  shall 
not  be  distinguished  from  their  brethren  on  others, 
but  equally  admitted  to  their  better  fortunes. 
The  circumstances  of  this  case,  though  of  a  per- 
sonal character,  may  furnish  a  useful  precedent. 
With  great  pleasure  and  confidence,  I  recommend 


DOCmiEXTS. 


313 


that  this  loyal  citizen  be  placed  in  charge  of  the 
plantation  on  Ladies'  Island,  which  he  is  willing 
to  accept — the  questions  of  property  and  rights 
under  the  will  being  reserved  for  subsequent  de- 
termination. 

A  brief  statement  in  relation  to  the  laborers 
collected  at  the  camps  at  Hilton  Head  and  Beau- 
fort may  be  desirable.  At  both  places  they  are 
under  the  charge  of  the  Quartermaster's  Depart- 
ment. At  Hilton  Head,  Mr.  Barnard  K.  Lee,  Jr., 
of  Boston,  is  the  Superintendent,  assisted  bv 
Mr.  J.  D.  McMath  of  Alleghany  City,  Pa.,  both 
civihans.  The  appointment  of  Mr.  Lee  is  derived 
from  Captain  R.  Saxton,  Chief  Quartermaster  of 
the  Expeditionary  Corps,  a  humane  officer,  who 
is  deeply  interested  in  this  matter.  The  number 
at  this  camp  is  about  six  hundred,  the  registered 
number  under  Mr.  Lee  being  four  hundred  and 
seventy-two,  of  whom  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
seven  are  on  the  pay-roll.  Of  these  four  hundred 
and  seventy-two,  two  hundred  and  seventy-nine 
are  fugitives  from  the  main  land,  or  other  points, 
stiU  held  by  the  rebels ;  seventy-seven  are  from 
Hilton  Head  Island;  sixty-two  from  the  adjacent 
island  of  Pinckney  ;  thirty-eight  from  St.  Helena ; 
eight  from  Port  Royal ;  seven  from  Spring,  and 
one  from  Daufuskie.  Of  the  four  hundred  and 
seventy-two,  the  much  larger  number,  it  will  be 
seen,  have  sought  refuge  from  the  places  now 
held  by  rebels ;  while  the  greater  proportion  of 
the  remainder  came  in  at  an  early  period,  before 
they  considered  themselves  safe  elsewhere.  Since 
the  above  figures  were  given,  forty-eight  more,  all 
from  one  plantation,  and  under  the  lead  of  the 
driver,  came  in  together  from  the  main  land. 
Mr.  Lee  was  appointed  November  tenth  last,  with 
instructions  to  assure  the  laborers  that  they  would 
be  paid  a  reasonable  sum  for  their  services,  not 
yet  fixed.  They  were  contented  with  the  assur- 
ance, and  a  quantity  of  blankets  and  clothing 
captured  of  the  rebels  was  issued  to  them  with- 
out charge.  About  December  first,  an  order  was 
given  that  carpenters  should  be  paid  eight  dollars 
per  month,  and  other  laborers  five  dollars  per 
month.  "Women  and  childi'en  were  fed  without 
charge,  the  women  obtaining  washing  and  receiv- 
ing the  pay,  in  some  cases  in  considerable  sums, 
not,  however,  heretofore  very  available,  as  there 
was  no  clothing  for  women  for  sale  here.  It  will 
be  seen  that,  under  the  order,  laborers,  particu- 
larly those  with  families,  have  been  paid  with 
sufficient  liberality.  There  were  sixty-three  la- 
borers on  the  pay-roll  on  December  first,  and  one 
hundred  and  one  dollars  and  fifty  cents  were  paid 
to  them  for  the  preceding  month.  On  January 
first  there  were  for  the  preceding  month  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty-seven  on  the  pay-roll,  entitled  I 
to  four  hundred  and  sixty-eight  dollars  and  fifty- 
nine  cents.  On  February  first  there  were  for  the 
preceding  month  one  hundred  and  thirty-seven 
on  the  pay-roll,  entitled  to  something  more  than 
for  the  month  of  January  ;  making  in  all  due 
them  not  far  from  one  thousand  dollars.  This  \ 
delay  of  payment,  due,  it  is  stated,  to  a  deficiency  { 
of  small  currency,  has  made  the  laborers  uneasy,  | 
and  afi'ected  the  disposition  to  work.  ' 


On  January  eighteenth,  a  formal  order  was 
issued  by  General  Sherman,  regulating  the  rate 
of  wages,  varying  from  twelve  dollars  to  eight 
dollars  per  month  for  mechanics,  and  fi'om  eight 
dollars  to  four  dollars  for  other  laborers.  Under 
it,  each  laborer  is  to  have,  in  addition,  a  ration 
of  food.  But  fi'om  the  monthly  pay  are  to  be 
deducted  rations  for  his  family,  if  here,  and  cloth- 
ing both  for  himself  and  family.  Commodious 
barracks  have  been  erected  for  these  people,  and 
a  guard  protects  their  quarters. 

I  ha^e  been  greatly  impressed  by  the  kindness 
and  good  sense  of  Mr.  Lee  and  his  assistant,  in 
their  discipline  of  these  people.  The  lash,  let  us 
give  thanks,  is  banished  at  last.  No  coarse  words 
or  profanity  are  used  toward  them.  There  has 
been  less  than  a  case  of  discipKne  a  week,  and 
the  delinquent,  if  a  male,  is  sometimes  made  to 
stand  on  a  ban-el,  or,  if  a  woman,  is  put  in  a  dark 
room,  and  such  discipline  has  proved  successful. 
The  only  exception,  if  any,  is  in  the  case  of  one 
woman,  and  the  difficulty  there  was  conjugal 
jealousy,  she  protesting  that  she  was  compelfed  / 
by  her  master,  against  her  will,  to  live  with  the 
man. 

There  is  scarcely  any  profanity  among  them, 
more  than  one  half  of  the  adults  being  members 
of  churches.  Their  meetings  are  held  twice  or 
three  times  on  Sundays,  also  on  the  evenings  of 
Tuesday,  Thursday  and  Friday.  They  are  con- 
ducted with  fervent  devotion  by  themselves  alone 
or  in  presence  of  a  white  clergyman,  when  the 
services  of  one  are  procurable.  They  close  with 
what  is  called  ''a  glory  shout,"  one  joining  hands 
with  another,  together  in  couples  singing  a  verse 
and  beating  time  with  the  foot.  A  fastidious  re- 
ligionist might  object  to  this  exercise ;  but  being 
in  accordance  with  usage,  and  innocent  enough 
in  itself,  it  is  not  open  to  exception.  As  an  evi- 
dence of  the  effects  of  the  new  system  in  inspir- 
ing self-reliance,  it  should  be  noted  that  the  other 
evening  they  called  a  meeting  of  their  own  accord, 
and  voted,  the  motion  being  regularly  made  and 
put,  that  it  was  now  but  just  that  they  should 
provide  the  candles  for  their  meetings,  hitherto 
provided  by  the  Government.  A  collection  was 
taken  at  a  subsequent  meeting,  and  two  dollars 
and  forty-eight  cents  was  the  result.  The  inci- 
dent may  be  trivial,  but  it  justifies  a  pleasing  in- 
ference. No  school,  it  is  to  be  regretted,  has 
yet  been  started,  except  one  on  Sundays,  but  the 
call  for  reading-books  is  daily  made  by  the  la- 
borers. The  suggestion  of  Mr.  Lee,  in  which  I 
most  heartily  concur,  should  not  be  omitted  — 
that  with  the  commencement  of  the  work  on  the 
plantations,  the  laborers  should  be  distributed 
upon  them,  having  regard  to  the  family  relations 
and  the  places  whence  they  have  come. 

Of  the  number  and  condition  of  the  laborers 
at  Beaufort,  less  accurate  information  was  attain- 
able, and  fewer  statistics  than  could  be  desired. 
They  have  not,  till  within  a  few  days,  had  a 
General  Superintendent,  but  have  been  under 
the  charge  of  persons  detailed  for  the  purpose 
from  the  army.  I  saw  one  whose  manner  and 
language  toward  them  was,  to  say  the  least,  not 


/ 


314  REBELLION  RECOED,  1862. 


elevating.    A  new  Quartermaster  of  the  post  has 
recently  commenced  his  duties,  and  a  better  order 
of  things  is  expected.    He  has  appointed  as  Su- 
perintendent Mr.  William  Harding,  a  citizen  of 
Daufuskie  Island.    An  enrolment  has  commenc- 
ed, but  is  not  yet  finished.     There  are  sup- 
posed to  be  about  six  hundred  at  Beaufort.  The 
number  has  been  larger,  but  some  have  already 
returned  to  the  plantations  in  our  possession  from 
which  they  came.    At  this  point,  the  Rev.  Solo- 
mon Peck,  of  Roxburj^  Mass.,  has  done  great 
good  in  preaching  to  them  and  protecting  them 
from  the  depredations  of  white  men.    He  has 
established  a  school  for  the  children,  in  which 
are  sixty  pupils,  ranging  in  age  from  six  to  fifteen 
years.    They  are  rapidly  learning  their  letters 
and  simple  reading.     The  teachers  are  of  the 
same  race  with  the  taught,  of  ages  respectively  of 
twenty,  thirty,  and  fifty  years.    The  name  of  one 
is  John  Milton.    A  visit  to  the  school  leaves  a 
remarkable  impression.    One  sees  there  those  of 
pure  African  blood,  and  others  ranging  through 
the  lighter  shades,  and  among  them  brunettes  of 
the  fairest  features.     I  taught  several  of  the 
children  their  letters  for  an  hour  or  two,  and 
during  the  recess  heard  the  three  teachers,  at 
their  own  request,  recite  their  spelling-lessons  of 
words  of  one  syllable,  and  read  two  chapters  of 
Matthew.    It  seemed  to  be  a  morning  well  spent. 
Nor  have  the  efforts  of  Dr.  Peck  been  confined  to 
this  point.    He  has  preached  at  Cat,  Cane  and 
Ladies'  Island,  anticipating  all  other  white  clergy- 
men, and  on  Sunday,  February  second,  at  the 
Baptist  Church  on  St.  Helena,  to  a  large  congre- 
gation, where  his  ministrations  have  been  attend- 
ed with  excellent  effects.    On  my  visits  to  St. 
Helena,  I  found  that  no  white  clergyman  had 
been  there  since  our  military  occupation  began, 
that  the  laborers  were  waiting  for  one,  and  there 
was  a  demoralization  at  some  points  which  time- 
ly words  might  arrest.    I  may  be  permitted  to 
state,  that  it  was  at  my  own  suggestion  that  he 
made  the  appointment  on  this  island.    I  cannot  ; 
forbear  to  give  a  moment's  testimony  to  the  no- 
bility of  character  displayed  by  this  venerable  ; 
man.    Of  mild  and  genial  temperament,  equally 
earnest  and  sensible,  enjoying  the  fruits  of  cul-  ' 
ture,  and  yet  not  dissuaded  by  them  from  the  : 
humblest  toil,  having  reached  an  age  when  most 
others  would  have  declined  the  duty,  and  left  it  i 
to  be  discharged  by  younger  men ;  of  narrow  i 
means,  and  yet  in  the  main  defraying  his  own  ' 
expenses,  this  man  of  apostolic  faith  and  life,  to  < 
whose  labors  both  hemispheres  bear  witness,  left  ! 
his  home  to  guide  and  comfort  this  poor  and  ' 
shepherdless  flock ;  and  to  him  belongs,  and  ever  i 
will  belong,  the  distinguished  honor  of  being  the  i 
first  minister  of  Christ  to  enter  the  field  which  j 
our  arms  had  opened.  i 
The  Rev.  Mansfield  French,  whose  mission  was  i 
authenticated  and  approved  by  the  Government,  1 
prompted  by  benevolent  purposes  of  his  own,  and  < 
in  conference  with  others  in  the  city  of  New- York, 
has  been  here  two  weeks,  during  which  time  he  i 
has  been  industriously  occupied  in  examining  the  j 
state  of  the  islands  and  their  population,  in  con-  < 


,  ferring  with  the  authorities,  and  laying  the  foun- 
•  dation  of  beneficent  appliances  with  reference  to 
their  moral,  educational,  and  material  wants. 
These,  having  received  the  sanction  of  officers  in 
command,  he  now  returns  to  commend  to  the 
public,  and  the  Government  will  derive  import- 
ant information  from  his  report.  Besides  other 
things,^  he  proposes,  with  the  approval  of  the 
authorities  here,  to  secure  authority  to  introduce 
women  of  suitable  experience  and  ability,  who 
shall  give  industrial  instruction  to  those  of  their 
own  sex  among  these  people,  and  who,  visiting 
from  dwelling  to  dwelling,  shall  strive  to  improve 
their  household  life,  and  give  such  counsels  as 
women  can  best  communicate  to  women.  All 
civilizing  influences  like  these  should  be  welcom- 
ed here,  and  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  many 
noble  hearts  among  the  women  of  the  land  will 
volunteer  for  the  service. 

There  are  some  material  wants  of  this  territory 
requiring  immediate  attention.  The  means  oi 
subsistence  have  been  pretty  well  preserved  on 
the  plantations  on  St.  Helena;  so  also  on  that 
part  of  Ladies'  adjacent  to  St.  Helena.  But  on 
Port  Royal  Island,  and  that  part  of  Ladies'  near 
to  it,  destitution  has  commenced,  and  will,  unless 
provision  is  made,  become  very  great.  Large 
amounts  of  corn  for  forage,  in  quantities  from 
fifty  to  four  or  five  hundred  bushels  from  a  plan- 
tation, have  been  taken  to  Beaufort.  On  scarce- 
ly any  within  this  district  is  there  enough  to  last 
beyond  April,  whereas  it  is  needed  till  August, 
On  others,  it  will  last  only  two  or  three  weeks, 
and  on  some  it  is  entirely  exhausted.  It  is  stated 
that  the  forage  was  taken  because  no  adequate 
supply  was  at  hand,  and  requisitions  for  it  were 
not  seasonably  answered.  The  farther  taking  of 
the  corn  in  this  way  has  now  been  forbidden  ; 
but  the  Government  must  be  prepared  to  meet 
the  exigency  which  it  has  itself  created.  It 
should  be  remembered  that  this  is  not  a  grain- 
exporting  region,  corn  being  produced  in  moder- 
ate crops  only  for  consumption.  Similar  destitu- 
tion will  take  place  on  other  islands,  from  the 
same  cause,  unless  provision  is  made. 

The  horses,  mules,  and  oxen,  in  large  numbers, 
have  been  taken  to  Beaufort  and  Hilton  Head  as 
means  of  transportation.  It  is  presumed  that 
they,  or  most  of  them,  are  no  longer  needed  for 
that  purpose,  and  that  they  will  be  returned  to 
those  who  shall  have  charge  of  the  plantations. 
Cattle  to  the  number  of  a  hundred,  and  in  some 
cases  less,  have  been  taken  from  a  plantation  and 
slaughtered,  to  furnish  fresh  beef  for  the  army. 
Often  cattle  have  been  killed  by  irresponsible 
foraging  parties,  acting  without  competent  au- 
thority. There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  army 
and  navy  have  been  in  great  want  of  the  varia- 
tion of  the  rations  of  salt  beef  or  pork ;  but  it 
also  deserves  much  consideration,  if  the  planta- 
tions are  to  be  permanently  worked,  how  much 
of  a  draught  they  can  sustain. 

The  garden  seeds  have  been  pretty  well  used 
up,  and  I  inclose  a  desirable  list  furnished  me  by 
a  gentleman  whose  experience  enables  him  to 
designate  those  adapted  to  the  soil,  and  useful 


DOCUMEXTS. 


315 


too  for  army  supplies.  The  general  cultiyation 
of  the  islands  also  requires  the  sending  of  a  qaan- 
tity  of  ploughs  and  hoes. 

Since  the  writing  of  this  report  was  commenc- 
ed, some  action  has  been  taken  which  will  largely 
increase  the  number  of  persons  thrown  on  the 
protection  of  the  Government.  To-day,  February 
tenth,  the  Forty-seventh  regiment  of  New-York 
volnnteevs  has  been  ordered  to  take  military  occu- 
pation of  Edisto  Island,  which  is  stated  to  have 
had  formerly  a  population  of  five  or  six  thousand, 
and  a  large  number  of  plantations,  a  movement 
which  involves  great  additional  responsibility. 
Agents  for  the  collection  of  cotton  are  to  accom- 
pany it. 

Herewith  is  communicated  a  copy  of  an  order 
by  General  Sherman,  dated  February  sixth,  1862, 
relative  to  the  disposition  of  the  plantations  and 
of  their  occupants.  It  is  evidence  of  the  deep 
interest  which  the  Commanding  General  takes  in 
this  subject,  and  of  his  conviction  that  the  exi- 
gency requires  prompt  and  immediate  action  from 
the  Government. 

I  leave  for  TTashington,  to  add  any  oral  ex- 
planations which  may  be  desired,  expecting  to 
return  at  once,  and,  with  the  permission  of  the 
Department,  to  organize  the  laborers  on  some 
one  plantation,  and  superintend  them  during  the 
planting  season,  and  upon  its  close,  business  en- 
gagements require  that  I  should  be  relieved  of 
this  appointment. 

I  ani,  with  great  respect, 

Your  friend  and  servant, 

Edward  L.  Pierce. 

second  report. 

Port  Royal,  June  2, 1S62. 
To  the  Eon.  S.  P.  Chase,  Secretarij  of  the  Trea- 
sury : 

Sir:  Upon  the  transfer  of  the  supervision  of 
affairs  at  Port  Royal  from  the  Treasury  to  the 
War  Department,  a  summary  of  the  results  of 
this  agency  may  be  expected  by  you ;  and  there- 
fore this  report  is  transmitted. 

Your  instructions  of  February  nineteenth  in- 
trusted to  me  the  general  superintendence  and 
direction  of  such  persons  as  might  be  employed 
upon  the  abandoned  plantations,  with  a  view  to 
prevent  the  deterioration  of  the  estates,  to  secure 
their  best  possible  cultivation,  and  the  greatest 
practicable  benefit  to  the  laborers  upon  them. 
The  Department,  not  being  provided  with  proper 
power  to  employ  upon  salaries  superintendents 
and  teachers,  under  the  plan  submitted  in  my 
report  of  February  third,  enjoined  cooperation 
with  associations  of  judicious  and  humane  citi- 
zens in  Boston,  New- York,  and  other  cities,  who 
proposed  to  commission  and  employ  persons  for 
the  religious  instruction,  ordinary  education,  and 
general  employment  of  the  laboring  population. 
Authority  was  given  to  the  Special  Agent  at  the 
same  time  to  select  and  appoint  applicants  for 
such  purposes,  and  assign  each  to  his  respective 
duty — such  persons  when  compensated,  to  draw 
their  compensation  from  private  sources,  receiv- 


ing transportation,  subsistence,  and  quarters  only 
from  the  Government.  The  Educational  Com- 
mission of  Boston  had  already  been  organized, 
and  the  organization  of  the  National  Freedman's 
Relief  Association  of  New- York  followed  a  few 
days  later.  Still  later  the  Port  Royal  Relief  Com- 
mittee of  Philadelphia  was  appointed. 

On  the  morning  of  March  ninth,  forty-one  men 
and  twelve  women,  accepted  for  the  above  pur- 
poses and  approved  by  the  first  two  of  the  above 
Associations,  disembarked  at  Beaufort,  having 
left  New-York  on  the  third  of  that  month  on 
board  the  United  States  transport,  the  steamship 
Atlantic,  accompanied  by  the  Special  Agent.  The 
Educational  Commission  of  Boston  had  commis- 
sioned tvrenty-five  of  the  men  and  four  of  the 
women.  The  National  Freedman's  Relief  Asso- 
ciation of  New-York  had  commissioned  sixteen 
of  the  men  and  five  of  the  women,  and  three 
women  from  Washington  City  had  received  your 
own  personal  commendation.  The  men  were  of 
various  occupations,  farmers,  mechanics,  trades- 
men, teachers,  physicans,  clergymen,  ranging  in 
age  from  twenty-one  to  sixty  years.  Not  being 
provided  with  full  topographical  knowledge  of  the 
islands,  it  was  necessary  for  the  Special  Agent  to 
explore  them  for  locations.  At  the  close  of  the 
first  fortnight  after  their  arrival,  the  entire  origi- 
nal delegation  had  been  assigned  to  districts 
which  they  had  reached.  Since  then  others  have 
arrived,  namely,  fourteen  on  March  twenty-third, 
fourteen  on  April  fourteenth,  and  a  few  at  a  later 
date,  making  in  all  seventy-four  men  and  nine- 
teen women,  who  having  been  commissioned  by 
the  Associations,  and  receiving  the  permit  of  the 
Collector  of  New- York,  have  arrived  here,  and 
been  assigned  to  posts.  Of  the  seventy-four  men, 
forty-six  were  commissioned  and  employed  by 
the  Boston  Society,  and  twenty-eight  by'that  of 
New-York.  Of  the  nineteen  women,  nine  were 
commissioned  by  the  New- York  Society,  six  by 
that  of  Boston,  one  by  that  of  Philadelphia, 
and  three  others  not  so  commissioned,  but  ap- 
proved by  yours'elf,  were  accepted.  Except  in 
the  case  of  the  three  women  approved  by  your- 
self, no  persons  have  been  received  into  this  ser- 
vice not  previously  approved  by  the  associations 
with  whom  you  enjoined  cooperation.  Of  the 
seventy-four  men,  twenty-four  were  stationed  on 
Port  Ro3^aJ  Island,  a  few  of  these  doing  special 
duty  at  Beaufort,  fifteen  on  St.  Helena,  thirteen 
on  Ladies',  nine  on  Edisto,  seven  on  Hilton  Head, 
three  on  Pinckney,  one  on  Cat  and  Cane,  one  on 
Paris,  and  one  on  Daufuskie.  A  few  of  the  above 
returned  North  soon  after  their  arrival,  so  that 
the  permanent  number  here  at  any  one  time,  duly 
commissioned  and  in  actual  service,  has  not  ex- 
ceeded seventy  men  and  sixteen  women.  The 
number  at  present  is  sixty-two  men  and  thirteen 
women.  A  larger  corps  of  superintendents  and 
teachers  might  have  been  employed  to  advantage, 
but  as  injurious  results  might  attend  the  over- 
doing of  the  work  of  supervision,  it  was  thought 
best  not  to  receive  more,  until  experience  had  in- 
dicated the  permanent  need. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  islands,  with  the 


316 


REBELLION  RECORD,  1862. 


number  of  plantations  and  people  upon  them 

which  have  been  superintended  by  the  above  per- 
sons : 

Islands.                   No.  of  Plantations,  Population. 

Port  Royal,  56  1,909 

St.  Helena  (including  Dathaw  and  Morgan,).  .53  2,T21 
Ladies'  (including  Wassa,  Coosaw,  Cat,  and 

Cane,)  .31  1,259 

Hilton  Head,  15  943 

Pinckney,                                                   2  423 

Daufuskie,                                                  3  69 

Paris,                                                         5  274 

Edisto,.   21  1,278 

Hutchinson,  Beef,  and  Ashe,                          3  174 


Total, 


,050 


The  above  population  is  classified  as  follows  : 
three  hundred  and  nine  mechanics  and  house 
servants  not  working  in  the  field ;  six  hundred 
and  ninety-three  old,  sickly,  and  unable  to  work ; 
three  thousand  six  hundred  and  nineteen  child- 
ren, not  useful  for  field  labor,  and  four  thousand 
four  hundred  and  twenty-nine  field-hands.  The 
field-hands  have  been  classified,  as  under  the 
former  system,  into  full,  three  quarters,  one  half, 
and  one  quarter  hands.  The  term  one  quarter 
generally  designates  boys  and  girls  of  about 
twelve  years,  just  sent  to  the  field ;  the  term  half 
appHes  often  to  persons  somewhat  infirm,  and  to 
women  enciente,  and  the  term  three  quarters  ap- 
plies to  those  doing  less  than  a  full  hand  and 
more  than  a  half  hand.  According  to  this  classi- 
fication, which  will  aid  in  arriving  at  the  effective 
force,  the  field  hands  are  made  up  of  three  thou- 
sand two  hundred  and  two  full  hands,  two  hun- 
dred and  ninety-five  three  quarter  hands,  five 
hundred  and  ninety-seven  half  hands,  and  three 
hundred  and  thirty -five  one  quarter  hands.  Com- 
muting the  fractional  into  full  hands,  according 
to  the  custom  of  the  former  planters,  in  determin- 
ing what  crop  should  be  required  of  the  laborers, 
there  results  the  equivalent  of  three  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  five  and  a  half  full  field-hands. 
Four  thousand  and  thirty  field-hands  were  paid 
for  work  on  the  cotton  crop.  There  is,  then,  a 
difference  of  three  hundred  an^  ninety-nine  be- 
tween this  number  and  the  entire  number  of  field- 
hands.  The  number  making  this  difference  do 
not  appear  to  have  worked  on  the  cotton.  Eighty- 
seven  of  them  are  found  on  Hutchinson,  Beef  and 
Ashe,  where  they  were  sent  from  Otter  Island, 
when  it  was  too  late  to  make  it  advisable  to 
attempt  the  planting  of  cotton.  The  statistics 
of  population  and  classified  laborers  were  taken 
some  weeks  before  the  pay-rolls  were  made,  and 
a  number  of  laborers  sought  employment  at  the 
camps  in  the  intervening  time.  Some  of  the  one 
quarter  hands  were  not  employed  in  the  cotton 
culture. 

The  mechanics  and  house-servants  on  the  plan- 
tations have  not  been  profitably  employed  —  the 
former,  because  they  had  not  proper  stock  and 
tools,  and  we  were  not  authorized  to  attempt  im- 
provements of  any  permanent  or  valuable  charac- 
ter ;  the  latter,  because  the  superintendents  were 
not  accompanied  by  their  families.  Both  classes 
were  averse  to  field-labor,  and  occasioned  consid- 
erable trouble.  Some  were  assigned  to  the  charge 
of  gar(ipns,  and  others  went  to  the  camps.  The 


proportion  of  old,  sickly,  and  disabled  is  large. 
The  fugitive  masters,  who  forced  away  many  of 
their  other  slaves,  were  wilHng  to  leave  these. 
The  amount  of  disability  among  the  people  is 
generally  quite  large,  due  to  moral  and  physical 
causes.  There  appears  to  be  a  want  of  vital  en- 
erg}^  in  them  such  as  often  carries  a  feeble  person 
safely  through  great  toil  and  vexation.  This  may 
be  ascribed  partially  to  their  vegetable  diet,  and 
partially  to  their  former  condition,  v»^hich  has 
nothing  in  it  to  give  strength  to  will  or  purpose. 
Their  bedding  and'  sleeping  apartments  are  un- 
suitable, and  at  night  they  sleep  on  the  floor 
without  change  of  clothing.  As  boatmen  they 
are  often  exposed,  and  do  not  properly  care  for 
themselves  after  exposure.  During  this  season 
small-pox  has  been  prevalent,  and  deranged  the 
labor  on  several  plantations.  For  the  purpose  of 
staying  it  there  was  a  general  vaccination,  and  a 
hospital  was  established  on  Port  Royal  Island, 
and  put  under  the  care  of  a  physician  employed 
by  one  of  the  benevolent  associations.  Six  phy- 
sicians have  been  employed  and  paid  by  them. 
It  was  an  entirely  inadequate  corps  for  so  exten- 
sive a  territory,  particularly  as  it  was  impossible 
to  procure  for  them  reasonable  means  of  convey- 
ance. 

Since  the  above  statistics  were  prepared,  some 
two  hundred  fugitives  have  come  to  Port  Royal 
and  Edisto,  and  have  been  distributed  on  the 
plantations.  Besides,  the  table  does  not  include 
negroes  at  any  of  the  camps  as  at  Beaufort,  Hil- 
ton Head,  Bay  Point,  and  Otter  Island,  who  are 
under  the  control  of  the  Quartermaster  Depart- 
ment. These  will  amount,  with  their  famiHes,  to 
two  thousand  persons,  or  more.  They  have  not 
been  under  the  Treasury  Department,  but  they 
have  been  instructed  by  the  teachers  and  attend- 
ed by  the  physicians,  and  they  have  shared  in  the 
distribution  of  clothing  contributed  by  the  asso- 
ciations. The  able-bodied  men  have  been  em- 
plo3'^ed  on  wages,  very  much  relieving  the  soldiers 
of  fatigue-duty. 

Some  of  the  smaller  of  the  above  islands  have 
only  been  visited  by  the  superintendents,  who  are 
stationed  on  other  islands — the  visits  being  made 
two  or  three  times  a  week. 

Five  of  the  women  authorized  as  above  have 
resided  at  the  junction  of  Ladies'  and  St.  Helena 
Islands.  The  rest  have  resided  on  Port  Royal, 
most  of  those  on  Port  Royal  living  at  Beaufort. 
Their  labors  have  been  directed,  some  to  teaching 
daily  schools  and  others  to  the  distribution  of 
clothing,  to  the  visitation  of  the  sick  among  these 
people,  and  to  endeavors  for  the  improvement  of 
their  household  life.  They  have  been  welcomed 
on  plantations  where  no  white  woman  had  been 
seen  since  our  military  occupation  began.  A  cir- 
cle at  once  formed  around  them,  the  colored  wo- 
men usually  testifying  their  gladness  by  offering 
presents  of  two  or  three  eggs.  Their  genial  pre- 
sence, wherever  they  have  gone,  has  comforted 
and  encouraged  these  people,  and  without  the  co- 
operation of  refined  and  Christian  women  the  best 
part  of  this  work  of  civilization  must  ever  remain 
undone. 


DOCUMENTS. 


317 


The  superintendents  have  generally  had  five  or 
six  plantations  in  charge,  sometimes  one,  aided 
by  a  teacher,  having  under  him  three,  four,  and 
even  five  hundred  persons.  The  duty  of  each 
has  been  to  visit  all  the  plantations  under  him  as 
often  as  practicable,  some  of  which  are  one,  two, 
three,  and  even  four  miles  from  his  quarters  — 
transport  to  them  implements  from  the  store- 
houses, protect  the  cattle  and  other  public  pro- 
perty upon  them,  converse  with  the  laborers,  ex- 
plaining to  them  their  own  new  condition,  the 
purposes  of  the  Government  towards  them,  what 
is  expected  of  them  in  the  way  of  labor,  and  what 
remuneration  they  are  likely  to  receive  ;  procure 
and  distribute  among  them  clothing  and  food, 
whether  issued  in  army  rations  or  contributed  by 
the  benevolent  associations  ;  collecting  the  mate- 
rials of  a  census  ;  making  reports  of  the  condition 
and  wants  of  the  plantations  and  any  peculiar 
difficulties  to  the  Special  Agent ;  drawing  pay 
rolls  for  labor  on  cotton,  and  paying  the  amounts ; 
going  when  convenient  to  the  praise  meetings, 
and  reading  the  Scriptures  ;  instructing  on  Sun- 
days and  other  days  those  desirous  to  learn  to 
read,  as  much  as  time  permitted ;  attending  to 
cases  of  discipline,  protecting  the  negroes  from 
injuries,  and  in  all  possible  ways  endeavoring  to 
elevate  them,  and  prepare  them  to  become  worthy 
and  self-supporting  citizens.  Such  were  some  of 
the  labors  cast  upon  the  superintendents,  for 
which,  as  they  were  without  precedent  in  our  his- 
tory, none  could  have  had  special  experience,  and 
for  which,  in  many  cases  of  difficulty,  they  were 
obhged  to  act  without  any  precise  instructions 
from  the  Special  Agent,  as  he  had  received  none 
such  from  the  Government.  In  a  very  few  in- 
stances there  appeared  a  want  of  fitness  for  the 
art  of  governing  men  under  such  strange  circum- 
stances, but  in  none  a  want  of  just  purpose. 
Many  toiled  beyond  their  strength,  and  nearly  all 
did  more  than  they  could  persevere  in  doing. 

A  knowledge  of  the  culture  of  cotton  was  found 
not  necessary  in  a  superintendent,  though  it  would 
have  facilitated  his  labors.  On  this  point  the  la- 
borers were  often  better  informed  than  their  for- 
mer masters.  Indeed,  those  persons  who  might 
already  have  possessed  this  knowledge,  and  ap- 
plied for  the  post  of  superintendent,  would  have 
been  hkely  in  gaining  it  to  have  acquired  ideas 
of  the  negroes  as  slaves,  and  of  the  mode  of  deal- 
ing with  them  as  such,  prejudicial  to  their  success 
in  this  enterprise.  The  duty  to  be  performed 
has  consisted  so  much  in  explaining  to  the  labor- 
ers their  new  condition  and  their  relations  to  the 
Government,  and  in  applying  the  best  spiritual 
forces  to  their  minds  and  hearts,  that  just  pur- 
poses, and  good  sense,  and  faith  in  the  work  have 
been  of  far  more  consequence  than  any  mere  ex- 
perience in  agriculture ;  and,  even  in  the  more 
practical  matters,  those  who  had  the  most  in- 
spiration for  the  service  were  found  the  most  fer- 
tile in  resources  and  the  most  cheerful  and  pa- 
tient in  encountering  vexations  and  inconveni- 
ences. It  would  not  be  easy  again  to  combine  in 
a  body  of  men  so  much  worth  and  capacity,  and 
it  is  but  a  deserved  tribute  to  say  that  but  for 

Sup.  Doc.  20 


their  unusual  zeal  and  devotion  under  many  ad- 
verse influences,  added  to  the  intrinsic  difiiculty 
of  the  work  itself,  this  enterprise,  on  which  patri- 
otism and  humanity  had  rested  their  faith,  would 
have  failed  of  the  complete  success  which  has 
hitherto  attended  it. 

It  is  proper  to  add  that  an  accomplished  woman 
accepted  the  superintendence  of  a  single  planta- 
tion, in  addition  to  other  duties  for  which  she 
specially  came,  and  carried  it  on  successfully. 

Upon  the  arrival  of  the  superintendents  the 
plantations  were  generally  unsupplied  with  tools, 
even  hoes,  those  on  hand  being  the  tools  used  last 
year,  and  a  few  found  in  the  shops  at  Beaufort. 
Some  three  thousand  dollars'  worth  of  ploughs, 
hoes,  and  other  implements  and  seeds  were  in- 
tended to  come  with  the  superintendents.  The 
negroes  had  commenced  putting  corn  and  pota- 
toes into  their  own  patches,  and  in  some  cases 
had  begun  to  prepare  a  field  of  corn  for  the  plan- 
tation. No  land  had  been  prepared  for  cotton, 
and  the  negroes  were  strongly  indisposed  to  its 
culture.  They  were  willing  to  raise  corn,  because 
it  was  necessary  for  food,  but  they  saw  no  such 
necessity  for  cotton,  and  distrusted  promises  of 
payment  for  cultivating  it.  It  had  enriched  the 
masters,  but  had  not  fed  them.  Soldiers  passing 
over  the  plantations  had  told  them  in  careless 
speech  that  they  were  not  to  plant  cotton.  As 
this  was  a  social  experiment  in  which  immediate 
industrial  results  were  expected,  it  seemed  im- 
portant that  all  former  modes  of  culture  should 
be  kept  up,  and  those  products  not  neglected  for 
which  the  district  is  best  adapted,  and  which,  in 
time  of  peace,  should  come  from  it.  Besides, 
when  a  people  are  passing  through  the  most  radi- 
cal of  all  changes,  prudence  requires  that  all  old 
habits  and  modes  not  inconsistent  with  the  new 
condition  should  be  conserved.  Particularly  did 
it  seem  desirable  that  the  enemies  of  free  labor 
in  either  hemisphere  should  not  be  permitted  to 
say  exultingly,  upon  the  view  of  a  single  season's 
experiment  here,  that  a  product  so  important  to 
trade  and  human  comfort  could  not  be  cultivated 
without  the  forced,  unintelligent,  and  unpaid  labor 
of  slaves.  Therefore  no  inconsiderable  effort  was 
made  to  disabuse  the  laborers  of  their  pretty 
strong  prejudice  on  this  point,  and  to  convince 
them  that  labor  on  cotton  was  honorable,  remu- 
nerative, and  necessary  to  enable  them  to  buy 
clothing  and  the  fitting  comforts  they  desired. 
It  was  not  made  in  vain ;  and  its  necessity  would 
in  the  main  have  been  dispensed  with  if  we  had 
had  in  the  beginning  the  money  to  pay  for  the 
labor  required,  and  the  proper  clothing  and  food 
to  meet  the  just  wants  and  expectations  of  the 
laborers.  At  the  same  time,  the  importance  of 
raising  an  adequate  supply  of  provisions  was  en- 
joined, and  with  entire  success.  On  this  point 
there  was  no  trouble.  The  amount  of  these 
planted  is  equal  to  that  of  last  year  in  proportion 
to  the  people  to  be  supplied,  and  probably  ex- 
ceeds it.  The  negro  patches  are  far  larger  than 
ever  before,  and  as  these  had  been  begun  before 
we  arrived,  we  were  unable  to  make  them  equal 
on  the  different  plantations.    They  alone  in  a  fair 


318 


REBELLION  RECORD,  1862. 


season,  and  if  harvested  in  peace,  would  probably 
prevent  any  famine.  On  the  whole,  it  is  quite 
certain  that  without  the  system  here  put  in  opera- 
tion the  mass  of  the  laborers,  if  left  to  themselves 
and  properly  protected  from  depredations  and 
demoralization  by  white  men,  would  have  raised 
on  their  negro  patches  corn  and  potatoes  suffi- 
cient for  their  food,  though  without  the  incentives 
and  moral  inspirations  thereby  applied,  they 
would  have  raised  no  cotton,  and  had  no  export- 
able crop,  and  there  might,  under  the  uncertain- 
ties of  the  present  condition  of  things,  have  been 
a  failure  of  a  surplus  of  corn  necessary  for  cattle 
and  contingencies,  and  for  the  purchase  of  needed 
comforts.  There  is  no  disposition  to  claim  for 
the  movement  here  first  initiated  that  it  is  the 
only  one  by  which  the  people  of  this  race  can  be 
raised  from  the  old  to  the  new  condition,  provided 
equal  opportunities  and  an  equal  period  for  de- 
velopment are  accorded  to  them  as  to  communi- 
ties of  the  white  race.  But  it  seems  to  have  been 
the  only  one  practicable  where  immediate  mate- 
rial and  moral  results  were  to  be  reached,  and 
upon  a  territory  under  military  occupation. 

The  preparation  of  the  ground  for  planting  be- 
gins usually  about  February  first.  It  was  not 
until  March  twenty-fourth  that  the  superintend- 
ence of  the  plantations  under  the  present  sys- 
tem can  be  said  to  have  been  in  operation — the 
first  fortnight  being  occupied  by  the  superintend- 
ents, upon  their  stations  being  assigned,  in  going 
to  them  with  a  moderate  supply  of  implements. 
The  planting,  except  of  the  slip  potatoes,  which 
are  planted  in  July,  some  cow-peas  and  a  small 
quantity  of  corn,  closed  in  the  week  ending  with 
May  tenth.  Each  superintendent,  in  response  to 
a  call  fi:om  the  Special  Agent,  has  furnished  a 
written  statement  of  the  acres  of  cotton,  corn, 
potatoes,  and  vegetables,  then  planted  on  each 
plantation  in  his  district,  with  an  estimate  of  the 
amount  thereafter  to  be  planted,  the  figures  of 
which  have  been  arranged  in  a  tabular  form,  pre- 
senting the  amount  of  each  kind  on  all  the  plan- 
tations on  all  the  islands  where  agricultural  ope- 
rations are  being  carried  on  under  the  protection 
of  our  forces.  It  is  with  pleasure  that  the  aggre- 
gate results  is  here  submitted.  It  makes  (adding 
the  negro  patches  to  the  corn-fields  of  the  plan- 
tations) 8314  7-8  acres  of  provisions  (corn,  po- 
tatoes, etc.)  planted,  5480  11-100  acres  of  cotton 
planted — in  all,  13,794  98-100  acres  of  provisions 
and  cotton  planted.  Adding  to  these  the  2394 
acres  of' late  corn,  to  a  great  extent  for  fodder, 
cow-peas,  etc.,  to  be  planted,  and  the  crop  of 
this  year  presents  a  total  of  16,188  98-100  acres. 
The  crops  are  growing,  and  are  in  good  condi- 
tion. They  have  been  cultivated  with  the  plough 
and  hoe,  and  the  stalks  of  cotton  have  been  thin- 
ned, as  is  usual  at  this  stage  of  their  growth. 
They  are  six  or  eight,  and  in  some  fields  twelve, 
inches  high.  Next  month  will  close  the  work  of 
cultivation. 

Notwithstanding  the  recent  withdrawal  of  six 
hundred  able-bodied  men  from  the  plantations 
for  military  purposes,  a  very  large  proportion  of 
the  working  force,  the  spirit  of  the  laborers  has 


so  improved  that,  according  to  present  expecta- 
tions, only  a  small  proportion  of  the  above  acres 
already  planted  will  have  to  be  abandoned.  The 
effect  of  the  order  will,  however,  be  to  diminish 
the  number  of  acres  to  be  planted,  as  the  esti- 
mate was  made  just  before  it  was  issued. 

The  statistical  table  presenting  the  aggregate 
result  on  each  island  is  here  introduced.  The 
full  tabular  statement,  giving  the  amount  of  each 
crop  planted  on  each  of  the  one  hundred  and 
eighty-nine  plantations,  also  accompanies  this 
report. 


No.  acres  of 
Potatoes,  (slip,) 
Cow-Peas,  etc., 

to  be  planted. 

O      CM  3 
O 

o 

!z; 

o 

11 

Total  No.  of 
acres  planted. 

O 

o 

tH 

CO  CM 
CM  T-< 
O       iO  CO 
CO  1-1 

o  o 
o  o 

Ci  o 

^^^^ 

lil  CO  CO  00 
i—t-Tti  CO 
CO  o  c<>  t- 
CO  rH 

o 

o 

Oi 

t- 
CO 

No.  acres  of  pro- 
visions planted 

by  laborers  on 
their  own  ac- 
count. 

^ 

CO    CO  0^ 

OlOCOQO 
t-r-lr-( 

t- 

o 

No.  acres  of  mis- 
cellaneous, as 
Vegetables,  Cow- 
Peas,  Rice,  etc., 
planted. 

T-f         1-1  CO 

00      rJ<  r-l 

t-  "£ 
o 

12; 

s 

1  CM 

No.  acres  of 
Cotton  planted. 

125T  75-100 

1042  75-100 
659  19-100 

1554  57-100 
221 

47  60-100 
697  25-100 

o 

o 

No.  acres  of 
Potatoes  (root) 
planted. 

CO  (NO 

t-  Tl 

tH  t-I 

d 

00  O  (U  !M 
CO  CO  0^ 

<^ 

No.  acres  of 
Corn  planted. 

O      C5  CO 

O  O  iO  CO 

CO  1-1  00 

Ig? 

IS 

Islands. 

Ladies',  (including  Coosaw, 
Wassa,  Cat,  and  Cane,). 

St.  Helena,  (including  Da- 
thaw  and  Morgan,)  

Paris,  

Pinckney  and  Daufuskie,. . 

Hutchinson,     Beef,  and 
Ashe,  

e 

1 

Satisfactory  as  the  result  is,  the  crop  would 
have  been  considerably  larger,  but  for  several  un- 
favorable circumstances. 


DOCUMENTS. 


319 


In  the  first  place,  the  laborers  had  just  passed 
through  four  months  of  idleness  and  confusion, 
during  which  the  only  labor  done  by  the  great 
mass  of  them  was  upon  the  baling  and  local  trans- 
portation of  the  cotton.  During  this  time  they 
had  no  assurances  as  to  their  future,  no  regular 
employment,  no  care  of  their  moral  interests,  no 
enlightenment  as  to  their  relations  to  this  war, 
except  the  careless  and  conflicting  talk  of  soldiers 
who  chanced  to  visit  the  plantations,  and  whose 
conduct  toward  them  did  not  always  prepossess 
them  in  favor  of  the  ideas  of  Northern  men  as  to 
the  rights  of  property  or  the  honor  of  women. 
The  effects  of  this  injurious  season  had  to  be  met 
at  the  threshold,  and,  as  far  as  could  be,  removed. 

The  usual  season  for  preparing  for  a  crop  had 
already  advanced  six  -weeks  before  the  superin- 
tendence and  the  distribution  of  implements  com- 
menced. Besides  the  labor  thus  lost,  there  was 
no  time  to  devise  useful  plans  for  abridging  it,  and 
so  conducting  it  as  to  be  able  to  ascertain  defin- 
itely what  each  had  done,  and  to  how  much  each 
was  entitled.  The  working  of  all  the  hands  to- 
gether is  not  the  best  mode  for  this  purpose,  but 
we  had  no  time  to  change  the  course  pursued  the 
year  before.  In  the  future  it  will  probably  be 
found  that  when  there  is  time  to  arrange  accord- 
ingly, the  best  mode  will  be  to  assign  a  piece  of 
land  to  each  laborer,  and  thus  the  amount  done 
and  the  proportionate  compensation  due,  can  be 
more  justly  fixed.  Nothing  is  found  to  discour- 
age faithful  laborers  so  much  as  to  see  the  indo- 
lent fare  as  well  as  themselves.  Even  now,  since 
the  close  of  planting,  some  of  the  superintendents, 
impressed  with  this  difficulty,  have  allotted  pieces 
of  ground  in  that  way,  and  they  report  that  this 
plan  works  well.  It  will,  besides,  introduce  ideas 
of  independent  proprietorship  on  the  part  of  the 
laborers,  not  so  likely  to  come  from  what  is  called 
the  "gang"  system.  The  same  cause,  namely, 
the  lateness  of  the  season,  together  with  the  in- 
sufficient means  of  fencing,  required  the  selection 
of  such  fields  for  cultivation  as  could  be  best  pro- 
tected from  cattle,  and  not  such  as  could  be  most 
easily  and  productively  worked. 

There  was  an  inadequate  supply  of  implements 
when  the  work  commenced.  A  small  quantity, 
less  than  that  required,  was  purchased,  and  was 
to  have  been  sent  with  the  superintendents,  but 
by  some  accident  the  larger  part  of  the  hoes  and 
some  other  articles  were  left  behind,  and  did  not 
come  tall  some  weeks  later. 

The  plantations  were  bereft  of  mules  and  horses 
necessary  for  ploughing  and  carting  manure.  The 
former  owners  had  taken  away  the  best  in  many 
cases,  and  nearly  all  the  workable  mules  and 
horses  remaining  had  been  seized  by  our  army 
for  quartermaster  and  commissary  service.  On 
a  long  list  of  plantations  not  a  mule  was  left  to 
plough.  Others  had  one  only,  and  that  one  blind 
or  lame.  On  none  was  there  the  former  number. 
The  oxen  had  to  a  great  extent  been  slaughtered 
for  beef  The  laborers  had  become  vexed  and 
dispirited  at  this  stripping  of  the  plantations,  and 
they  had  no  heart  to  attempt  the  working  of  them 
productively.    Indeed,  in  some  cases,  it  did  seem 


like  requiring  them  to  make  bricks  without  straw. 
At  last,  in  answer  to  a  pressing  appeal  to  the 
Treasury  Department  by  the  Special  Agent,  ninety 
mules  were  forwarded  from  New-York,  forty  ar- 
riving at  Beaufort  on  the  eighteenth  April,  and 
fifty  on  the  twenty-first.  Within  three  days  after 
their  arrival  they  were  distributed,  except  some 
dozen  intended  for  localities  not  easily  accessible. 
This  was  a  most  necessary  consignment.  It 
made  the  hand-labor  available,  and  showed  the 
laborers  that  the  Government  was  in  earnest  in 
carrying  on  the  plantations.  This  recognition 
of  their  just  complaints  helped  to  give  confi- 
dence. This  reenforcement  of  the  implements 
of  labor  must  have  added  not  far  fi'om  two  thou- 
sand acres  to  the  crop  of  this  year,  and  perhaps 
even  more. 

Another  difficulty  was  found  in  the  destitution 
of  corn  prevalent  in  many  districts,  as  Port  Royal, 
Hilton  Head,  and  Paris  Islands.  In  some  locali- 
ties it  had  been  burned  by  the  rebels.  It  had 
been  taken  in  large  quantities  by  our  army  for 
forage  under  orders  of  General  Sherman,  and  the 
result  indicated  as  soon  at  hand  in  the  report  of 
the  Special  Agent  of  February  third,  had  already 
arrived.  The  first  week  after  the  return  of  the 
Special  Agent  here,  was  passed  in  exploring  loca- 
tions for  superintendents  on  Port  Royal.  Every- 
where he  was  met  with  complaints  that  there 
was  no  corn  or  provisions.  A  few  rations  had 
been  doled  out,  but  only  on  a  few  plantations, 
and  without  system  or  regularity.  It  took  some 
two  or  three  weeks  there,  and  longer  on  other 
islands,  to  get  a  system  in  operation  under  which 
the  negroes,  where  the  corn  had  been  taken,  or 
there  was  destitution,  should  receive  a  part  of  a 
soldier's  ration.  From  Ladies'  Island  the  corn 
had  been  taken  largely,  and  it  was  thought  it 
might  be  supplied  by  a  possible  surplus  on  St. 
Helena.  On  these  islands  there  was  considerable 
discontent  on  .account  of  the  exclusive  diet  of 
hominy,  and  a  great  call  for  meat,  molasses,  and 
salt.  On  some  of  the  best  conducted  plantations 
these  articles  had  formerly  been  furnished  by  the 
planters  in  small  quantities  at  some  seasons.  So 
many  cattle  had  been  taken  by  the  army  for  beef, 
that  following  his  instructions,  which  required 
him  to  prevent  the  deterioration  of  the  estates,  the 
Special  Agent  hesitated  to  continue  the  slaugh-. 
ter.  Salt  was  twice  furnished  to  these  two  islands 
by  a  special  purchase — a  quart  being  given  to  a 
family.  At  length  a  consignment  of  two  thousand 
dollars'  worth  of  provisions,  for  which  an  appeal 
had  been  made  early  in  March,  consisting  of  bacon, 
fish,  molasses,  and  salt,  arrived,  being  delayed  by 
many  accidents,  and  forwarded  by  the  Port  Royal 
Relief  Committee  of  Philadelphia.  Bacon  and 
fish,  to  the  amount  of  three  pounds  of  the  former, 
and  one  pound  of  the  latter  to  a  grown  person, 
were  distributed  May  fifteenth,  and  a  distribution 
of  molasses  has  since  been  made  of  one  quart  to 
a  family.  The  laborers  have  been  greatly  encour- 
aged b}^  this  distribution,  and  if  it  could  have 
been  made  earlier,  or  rations  could  have  been 
issued  earlier,  the  crop  would  have  been  increased, 
and  we  should  have  been  relieved  of  many  griev- 


320 


REBELLION  RECORD,  1862, 


ous  complaints,  the  justice  of  which  we  were  com- 
pelled to  confess  without  the  power  to  meet  them. 

Again,  the  laborers  had  but  very  little  confi- 
dence in  the  promises  of  payment  made  by  us  on 
behalf  of  the  Government.  The  one  per  cent  a 
pound  which  had  been  promised  on  the  last  year's 
crop  of  cotton,  mostly  stored  when  our  military 
occupation  began,  and  for  the  baling  and  local 
transportation  of  which  the  laborers  had  been  em- 
ployed in  November  and  December  last,  had  not 
been  paid.  This  sum,  even  if  paid,  was  entirely 
inadequate  to  supply  the  needed  clothing  and 
other  wants,  and  it  would  seem  that  the  laborers 
were  fairly  entitled  upon  the  taking  of  the  cotton 
which  they  had  raised,  to  have  been  paid  for  the 
labor  expended  by  them  in  raising  it,  or  if  they 
were  to  be  paid  only  for  the  labor  of  baling  and 
transporting,  that  they  should  have  been  provided 
with  the  winter  clothing  which  their  masters  had 
not  furnished  before  they  left.  The  destitution 
of  clothing  was  such  as  to  produce  much  discon- 
tent, subsequently  relieved  to  a  considerable  ex- 
tent by  the  benevolent  associations. 

The  Special  Agent  was  not  provided  with  funds 
to  pay  for  labor  on  this  year's  crop  until  April 
twenty-eighth.  Then  the  moderate  sum  of  one 
dollar  per  acre  was  paid  for  cotton  planted  by 
April  twenty-third,  being  distributed  among  the 
laborers  according  to  the  amount  done  by  each. 
This  was  paid  on  account,  the  question  of  the 
value  of  the  labor  already  done  being  reserved. 
This  payment  quickened  the  laborers  very  much, 
and  the  work  went  rapidly  forward  until  May 
tenth,  when  the  time  for  closing  the  regular  plant- 
ing season  arrived.  Indeed,  from  the  beginning, 
where  they  could  clearly  see  that  they  were  to 
receive  the  rewards  of  their  labor,  they  worked 
with  commendable  diligence.  Thus  they  worked 
diligently  on  their  negro  patches  at  the  time  when 
we  had  the  most  difficulty  in  securing  the  full 
amount  of  proper  work  on  the  plantations.  Not 
the  least  among  our  troubles  was,  that  many  able- 
bodied  men  had  gone  to  the  camps  at  Beaufort, 
Hilton  Head,  and  Bay  Point,  where  they  were 
profitably  employed  on  wages,  occasionally  re- 
turning to  the  plantations  on  which  their  wives 
remained,  to  display  their  earnings  and  produce 
discontent  among  the  unpaid  laborers  on  them. 

No  money  has  been  paid  for  the  planting  of 
corn,  or  of  vegetables,  except  in  the  case  of  a 
large  garden  of  ten  acres,  it  being  expected  that 
these  products  will  be  consumed  on  the  planta- 
tions. A  second  payment  for  the  cotton  planted 
since  April  twenty-third,  and  at  the  same  rate  as 
the  first,  has  been  made.  In  all,  the  sum  of  five 
thousand  four  hundred  and  seventy-nine  dollars 
and  sixty-five  cents  has  been  paid  for  5480  11-100 
acres  of  cotton,  with  ten  dollars  more  for  the  gar- 
den of  vegetables.  Four  thousand  and  thirty  per- 
sons received  their  proportions  of  this  sum.  Small 
as  the  payment  was,  the  laborers  received  it  with 
great  satisfaction,  as,  if  nothing  more,  it  was  at 
least  a  recognition  of  their  title  to  wages,  and 
to  treatment  as  freemen.  Accurate  pay-rolls  for 
each  plantation,  with  the  name  of  each  laborer 


and  the  amount  paid,  and  certified  by  the  super- 
intendents, are  preserved. 

These  drawbacks  are  not  stated  with  any  in- 
tention to  cast  blame  on  the  Government,  already 
overcharged  with  transcendent  duties;  but  it 
seemed  fitting  to  mention  them,  in  order  to  do 
full  justice  to  laborers  who  are  passing  from  one 
condition  to  another. 

The  order  of  Major-Gen.  Hunter  compelling  the 
able-bodied  men  to  go  to  Hilton  Head  on  May 
twelfth,  where  a  proportion  of  them  still  remain 
against  their  will,  produced  apprehension  among 
these  people  as  to  our  intentions  in  relation  to 
them,  and  disturbed  the  work  on  the  plantations, 
the  force  of  which  has  been  greatly  reduced,  leav- 
ing the  women,  and  children  over  twelve  years 
of  age,  as  the  main  reliance  on  many  plantations. 
The  Special  Agent  entered  a  protest  against  the 
order  and  its  harsh  execution,  and  the  retention 
of  any  not  disposed  to  enlist ;  but  the  civil  being 
subordinate  to  military  power,  no  further  action 
could  be  taken. 

The  cases  of  discipline  for  idleness  have  been 
very  few,  and  cannot  have  exceeded,  if  they  have 
equalled,  forty  on  the  islands.  These  have  been 
reported  to  the  military  authorities  and  been  acted 
upon  by  them.  The  most  trouble  has  been  upon 
plantations  lying  exposed  to  the  camps  and  ves- 
sels both  of  the  navy  and  sutlers,  as  on  Hilton 
Head  Island  and  on  St.  Helena  near  Bay  Point, 
where  there  were  considerable  discontent  and  in- 
subordination induced  by  visits  from  the  ves- 
sels and  camps.  This  trouble,  it  is  hoped,  will 
hereafter  be  removed  by  a  more  effective  police 
system  than  has  yet  been  apphed. 

It  is  not  pretended  that  many  of  these  laborers 
could  not  have  done  more  than  they  have  done, 
or  that  in  persistent  application  they  are  the 
equals  of  races  living  in  colder  and  more  bracing 
latitudes.  They  generally  went  to  their  work 
quite  early  in  the  morning,  and  returned  at  noon, 
often  earlier,  working,  however,  industriously 
while  they  were  in  the  field.  Late  in  the  after- 
noon, they  worked  upon  their  private  patches. 
They  protested  against  working  on  Saturdays. 
A  contrary  rule  was,  however,  prescribed  and 
enforced,  and  they  did  double  work  on  Friday 
in  order  to  secure  for  themselves  the  day  follow- 
ing. As  they  were  making  themselves  self-sup- 
porting by  the  amount  of  work  which  could  be 
obtained  from  them  without  discipline,  it  was 
thought  advisable,  under  the  present  condition 
of  things,  not  to  exact  more,  but  to  await  the 
full  effect  of  moral  and  material  inspirations, 
which  can  in  time  be  applied. 

What  has,  nevertheless,  been  accomplished 
with  these  obstructions,  with  all  the  uncertain- 
ties incident  to  a  state  of  war,  and  with  our  own 
want  of  personal  familiarity  at  first  with  the  indi- 
vidual laborers  themselves,  gives  the  best  reason 
to  believe  that  under  the  guidance  and  with  the 
help  of  the  fugitive  masters,  had  they  been  so 
disposed,  these  people  might  have  made  their 
way  from  bondage  and  its  enforced  labor  to  free- 
dom and  its  voluntary  and  compensated  labor 


DOCUMENTS. 


321 


without  any  essential  diminution  of  products  or 
any  appreciable  derangement  of  social  order.  In 
this  as  in  all  things  the  universe  is  so  ordered 
that  the  most  beneficent  revolutions,  which  cost 
life  and  treasure,  may  be  accomplished  justly 
and  in  peace,  if  men  have  only  the  heart  to  ac- 
cept them. 

The  contributions  of  clothing  from  the  benevo- 
lent associations  have  been  liberal ;  but  liberal  as 
they  have  been,  they  have  failed  to  meet  the  dis- 
tressing want  which  pervaded  the  territory.  The 
masters  had  left  the  negroes  destitute,  not  hav- 
ing supplied  their  winter  clothing  when  our  forces 
had  arrived,  so  that  both  the  winter  and  spring 
clothing  had  not  been  furnished.  From  all  ac- 
counts it  would  also  seem  that  since  the  war  be- 
gan the  usual  amount  of  clothing  given  had  been 
much  diminished.  That  contributed  by  the  as- 
sociations cannot  fall  below  ten  thousand  dollars. 
It  has  produced  a  most  marked  change  in  the 
general  appearance,  particularly  on  Sundays  and 
at  the  schools,  and  tended  to  inspire  confidence 
in  the  superintendents. 

It  would  have  been  almost  useless  to  attempt 
labors  for  moral  or  religious  instruction  without 
the  supplies  thus  sent  to  clothe  the  naked.  A 
small  amount,  where  there  were  an  ability  and 
desire  to  pay,  has,  with  the  special  authority  of 
the  societies,  been  sold,  and  the  proceeds  returned 
to  them  to  be  reinvested  for  the  same  purpose. 
The  rest  has  been  delivered,  without  any  money 
being  received.  In  the  case  of  the  sick  and  dis- 
abled it  is  donated,  and  in  case  of  those  healthy 
and  able  to  work  it  has  been  charged  without  ex- 
pectation of  money  to  be  paid,  that  being  thought 
to  be  the  best  course  to  prevent  the  laborers  from 
regarding  themselves  as  paupers,  and  as  a  possi- 
ble aid  to  the  Government  in  case  prompt  pay- 
ments for  labor  should  not  be  made. 

It  is  most  pleasing  to  state  that,  with  the  small 
payments  for  labor  already  made,  those  also  for 
the  collection  of  cotton  being  nearly  completed, 
with  the  partial  rations  on  some  islands  and  the 
supplies  from  benevolent  sources  on  others,  with 
the  assistance  which  the  mules  have  furnished 
for  the  cultivation  of  the  crop — the  general  kind- 
ness and  protecting  care  of  the  superintendents 
— the  contributions  of  clothing  forwarded  by  the 
associations — the  schools  for  the  instruction  of 
the  children  and  others  desirous  to  learn — with 
these  and  other  favorable  influences,  confidence 
in  the  Government  has  been  inspired,  the  labor- 
ers are  working  cheerfully,  and  they  now  present 
to  the  world  the  example  of  a  well-behaved  and 
self-supporting  peasantry  of  which  their  country 
has  no  reason  to  be  ashamed. 

The  educational  labors  deserve  a  special  state- 
ment. It  is  to  be  regretted  that  more  teachers 
had  not  been  provided.  The  labor  of  superin- 
tendence at  the  beginning  proved  so  onerous  that 
several  originally  intended  to  be  put  in  charge  of 
schools,  were  necessarily  assigned  for  the  other 
purpose.  Some  fifteen  persons  on  an  average 
have  been  specially  occupied  with  teaching,  and 
of  these  four  were  women.  Others,  having  less 
superintendence  to  attend  to  were  able  to  devote 


considerable  time  to  teaching  at  regular  hours. 
Nearly  all  gave  some  attention  to  it,  more  or  less 
according  to  their  opportunity,  and  their  aptitude 
for  the  work. 

The  educational  statistics  are  incomplete,  only 
a  part  of  the  schools  having  been  open  for  two 
months,  and  the  others  having  been  opened  at 
intervals  upon  the  arrival  of  persons  designated 
for  the  purpose.  At  present,  according  to  the 
reports,  two  thousand  five  hundred  persons  are 
being  taught  on  week-days,  of  whom  not  far  from 
one  third  are  adults  taught  when  their  work  is 
done.  But  this  does  not  complete  the  number 
occasionally  taught  on  week-days  and  at  the 
Sunday-schools.  Humane  soldiers  have  also  aid- 
ed in  the  case  of  their  servants  and  others. 
Three  thousand  persons  are  in  all  probability  re- 
ceiving more  or  less  instruction  in  reading  on 
these  islands.  With  an  adequate  force  of  teach- 
ers this  number  might  be  doubled,  as  it  is  to  be 
hoped  it  will  be  on  the  coming  of  autumn.  The 
reports  state  that  very  many  are  now  advanced 
enough  so  that  even  if  the  work  should  stop  here 
they  would  still  learn  to  read  by  themselves. 
Thus  the  ability  to  read  the  English  language 
has  been  already  so  communicated  to  these  peo- 
ple that  no  matter  what  military  or  social  vicissi- 
tudes may  come,  this  knowledge  can  never  perish 
from  among  them. 

There  have  been  forwarded  to  the  Special  Agent 
the  reports  of  the  teachers,  and  they  result  in  a 
remarkable  concurrence  of  testimony.  All  unite 
to  attest  the  universal  eagerness  to  learn,  which 
they  have  not  found  equalled  in  white  persons, 
arising  both  from  the  desire  for  knowledge  com- 
mon to  all,  and  the  desire  to  raise  their  condition, 
now  very  strong  among  these  people.  The  re- 
ports on  this  point  are  cheering,  even  enthusias- 
tic, and  sometimes  relate  an  incident  of  aspiration 
and  affection  united  in  beautiful  combination. 
One  teacher  on  his  first  day's  school,  leaves  in 
the  rooms  a  large  alphabet  card,  and  the  next 
day"  returns  to  find  a  mother  there  teaching  her 
little  child  of  three  years  to  pronounce  the  first 
letters  of  the  alphabet  she  herself  learned  the  day 
before.  The  children  learn  without  urging  by 
their  parents,  and  as  rapidly  as  white  persons  of 
the  same  age,  often  more  so,  the  progress  being 
quickened  by  the  eager  desire. 

One  teacher  reports  that  on  the  first  day  of 
her  school  only  three  or  four  knew  a  part  of  their 
letters,  and  none  knew  all.  In  one  week  seven 
boys  and  six  girls  could  read  readily  words  of 
one  syllable,  and  the  following  week  there  were 
twenty  in  the  same  class.  The  cases  of  dulness 
have  not  exceeded  those  among  the  whites.  The 
mulattoes,  of  whom  there  are  probably  not  more 
than  five  per  cent  of  the  entire  population  on  the 
plantations,  are  no  brighter  than  the  children  of 
pure  African  blood.  In  the  schools  which  have 
been  opened  for  some  weeks,  the  pupils  who  have 
regularly  attended  have  passed  from  the  alpha- 
bet, and  are  reading  words  of  one  syllable  in 
large  and  small  letters.  The  lessons  have  been 
confined  to  reading  and  spelling,  except  in  a  few 
cases  where  wi'iting  has  been  taught. 


I 


322 


REBELLION  RECORD,  1862. 


There  has  been  great  apparent  eagerness  to 
learn  among  the  adults  and  some  have  progressed 
well.  They  will  cover  their  books  with  care, 
each  one  being  anxious  to  be  thus  provided,  car- 
r}^  them  to  the  fields,  studying  them  at  intervals 
of  rest,  and  asking  explanations  of  the  superin- 
tendents who  happen  to  come  along.  But  as 
the  novelty  wore  away,  many  of  the  adults  find- 
ing perseverance  disagreeable,  dropped  ofil  Ex- 
cept in  rare  cases  it  is  doubtful  whether  adults 
over  thirty  years,  although  appreciating  the  pri- 
vilege for  their  children,  will  persevere  in  con- 
tinuous study  so  as  to  acquire  the  knowledge  for 
themselves.  Still,  when  books  and  newspapers 
are  read  in  negro  houses,  many,  inspired  l3y  the 
example  of  their  children,  will  be  likely  to  under- 
take the  labor  again. 

It  is  proper  to  state  that  while  the  memory  in 
colored  children  is  found  to  be,  if  any  thing,  live- 
lier than  in  the  white,  it  is  quite  probable  that 
further  along,  when  the  higher  faculties  of  com- 
parison and  combination  are  more  to  be  relied  on, 
their  progress  may  be  less.  While  their  quick- 
ness is  apparent,  one  is  struck  with  their  want 
of  discipline.  The  children  have  been  regarded 
as  belonging  to  the  plantation  rather  than  to  a 
family,  and  the  parents,  who  in  their  condition 
can  never  have  but  a  feeble  hold  on  their  off- 
spring, have  not  been  instructed  to  training  their 
children  into  thoughtful  and  orderly  habits.  It 
has,  therefore,  been  found  not  an  easy  task  to 
make  them  quiet  and  attentive  at  the  schools. 

Through  the  schools  habits  of  neatness  have 
been  encouraged.  Children  with  soiled  faces  or 
soiled  clothing,  when  known  to  have  better,  have 
been  sent  home  from  the  schools,  and  have  re- 
turned in  better  condition. 

In  a  few  cases  the  teachers  have  been  assisted 
by  negroes  who  knew  how  to  read  before  we 
came.  Of  these  there  are  very  few.  Perhaps 
one  may  be  found  on  an  average  on  one  of  two 
or  three  plantations.  These,  so  far  as  can  be 
ascertained,  were  in  most  cases  taught  clandes- 
tinely, often  by  the  daughters  of  their  masters 
who  were  of  about  the  same  age.  A  colored 
person  among  these  people  who  has  learned  to 
read  does  not  usually  succeed  so  well  as  a  white 
teacher.  He  is  apt  to  teach  the  alphabet  in  the 
usual  order,  and  needs  special  training  for  the 
purpose. 

The  Sabbath-schools  have  assisted  in  the  work 
of  teaching.  Some  three  hundred  persons  are 
present  at  the  church  on  St.  Helena  in  the  morn- 
ing, to  be  taught.  There  are  other  churches 
where  one  or  two  hundred  attend.  A  part  of 
these,  perhaps  the  larger,  attend  some  of  the  day 
schools,  but  they  comprehend  others,  as  adults, 
and  still  others  coming  from  localities  where 
schools  have  not  been  opened.  One  who  regards 
spectacles  in  the  light  of  their  moral  aspects,  can 
with  difficulty  find  sublimer  scenes  than  those 
witnessed  on  Sabbath  morning  on  these  islands, 
now  ransomed  to  a  nobler  civilization. 

The  educational  labors  have  had  incidental  re- 
sults almost  as  useful  as  those  which  have  been 
direct.    At  a  time  when  the  people  were  chafing  ' 


the  most  under  deprivations,  and  the  assurances 
made  on  behalf  of  the  Government  were  most 
distrusted,  it  was  fortunate  that  we  could  point 
to  the  teaching  of  their  children  as  a  proof  of  our 
interest  in  their  welfare,  and  of  the  new  and  bet- 
ter life  w^hich  we  were  opening  before  them. 

An  effort  has  been  made  to  promote  clean  and 
healthful  habits.  To  that  end,  weekly  cleanings 
of  quarters  were  enjoined.  This  effort,  where  it 
could  be  properly  made,  met  with  reasonable 
success.  The  negroes,  finding  that  we  took  an 
interest  in  their  welfare,  acceded  cordially,  and 
in  many  cases  their  diligence  in  this  respect  was 
most  commendable.  As  a  race,  it  is  a  mistake 
to  suppose  that  they  are  indisposed  to  cleanli- 
ness. They  appear  to  practise  it  as  much  as 
white  people  under  the  same  circumstances. 
There  are  difficulties  to  obstruct  improvements 
in  this  respect.  There  has  been  a  scarcity  of 
lime  and  (except  at  too  high  prices)  of  soap. 
Their  houses  are  too  small,  not  affording  proper 
apartments  for  storing  their  food.  They  are  un- 
provided with  glass  windows.  Besides,  some  of 
them  are  tenements  unfit  for  beasts,  without  floor 
or  chimneys.  One  could  not  put  on  a  face  to 
ask  the  occupants  to  clean  such  a  place.  But 
where  the  building  was  decent  or  reasonably 
commodious,  there  was  no  difficulty  in  securing 
the  practice  of  this  virtue.  Many  of  these  people 
are  examples  of  tidiness,  and  on  entering  their 
houses  one  is  sometimes  witness  of  rather  amus- 
ing scenes  where  a  mother  is  trying  the  effect  of 
beneficent  ablutions  on  the  heads  of  her  children. 

The  rehgious  welfare  of  these  people  has  ■  not 
been  neglected.  The  churches,  which  were  closed 
when  this  became  a  seat  of  war,  have  been  opened. 
Among  the  superintendents  there  were  several 
persons  of  clerical  education,  who  have  led  in 
public  ministrations.  The  larger  part  of  them 
are  persons  of  religious  experience  and  profession, 
who,  on  the  Sabbath,  in  weekly  praise  meetings 
and  at  funerals,  have  labored  for  the  consolation 
of  these  humble  believers. 

These  people  have  been  assured  by  the  Special 
Agent  that  if  they  proved  themselves  worthy  by 
their  industry,  good  order,  and  sobriety,  they 
should  be  protected  against  their  rebel  masters. 
It  would  be  wasted  toil  to  attempt  their  develop- 
ment without  such  assurances.  An  honorable 
nature  would  shrink  from  this  w^ork  without  the 
right  to  make  them.  Nor  is  it  possible  to  ima- 
gine any  rulers  now  or  in  the  future,  who  will 
ever  turn  their  backs  on  the  laborers  who  have 
been  received,  as  these  have  been,  into  the  ser- 
vice of  the  United  States. 

Special  care  has  been  taken,  to  protect  the  pro- 
perty of  the  Government  on  the  plantations.  The 
cattle  had  been  taken  away  in  such  large  numbers 
by  the  former  owners,  and  later  by  the  army,  the 
latter  sometimes  slaughtering  fifty  or  more  head 
on  a  plantation,  that  the  necessity  of  a  strict  rule 
for  the  preservation  of  those  remaining  was  felt. 
For  that  purpose  the  Special  Agent  procured  or- 
ders from  the  military  and  naval  authorities, 
dated  respectively  April  seventeenth  and  twenty- 
sixth,  forbidding  the  removal  of  "  subsistence, 


DOCUMENTS. 


323 


forage,  mules,  horses,  oxen,  cows,  sheep,  cattle 
of  any  kind,  or  other  property  from  the  planta- 
tions, -^i^iithout  the  consent  of  the  Special  Agent 
of  the  Treasury  Department  or  orders  from  the 
nearest  General  Commanding."  No  such  con- 
sent has  been  given  by  the  Special  Agent  except 
in  one  case,  as  an  act  of  mercy  to  the  animal,  and 
in  another  where  he  ordered  a  lamb  killed  on  a 
special  occasion,  and  has  charged  himself  with 
the  same  in  his  account  with  the  department. 
Your  instructions  which  expressed  your  desire  to 
prevent  the  deterioration  of  the  estates,  have  in 
this  respect  been  sedulously  attended  to.  The 
superintendents  have  not  been  permitted  to  kill 
cattle,  even  for  fresh  meat,  and  they  have  sub- 
sisted on  their  rations,  and  fish  and  poultry  pur- 
chased of  the  negroes. 

The  success  of  the  movement,  now  upon  its 
third  month,  has  exceeded  my  most  sanguine 
expectations.  It  has  had  its  peculiar  difficulties, 
and  some  phases  at  times,  arising  from  accidental 
causes,  might  on  a  partial  view  invite  doubt,  ban- 
ished however  at  once  by  a  general  survey  of 
what  had  been  done.  Already  the  high  treason 
of  South-Carolina  has  had  a  sublime  compensa- 
tion, and  the  end  is  not  yet.  The  churches 
which  were  closed  have  been  opened.  No  mas- 
ter now  stands  between  these  people  and  the 
words  which  the  Saviour  spoke  for  the  consola- 
tion of  all  peoples  and  all  generations.  The  Gos- 
pel is  preached  in  fulness  and  purity,  as  it  has 
never  before  been  preached  in  this  territory,  even 
in  colonial  times.  The  reading  of  the  English 
language,  with  more  or  less  system,  is  being 
taught  to  thousands,  so  that  whatever  military  or 
political  calamities  may  be  in  store,  this  precious 
knowledge  can  never  more  be  eradicated.  Ideas 
and  habits  have  been  planted,  under  the  growth 
of  which  these  people  are  to  be  fitted  for  the  re- 
sponsibilities of  citizenship,  and  in  equal  degree 
unfitted  for  any  restoration  to  what  they  have 
been.  Modes  of  administration  have  been  com- 
menced, not  indeed  adapted  to  an  advanced  com- 
munity, but  just,  paternal,  and  developing  in 
their  character.  Industrial  results  have  been 
reached,  which  put  at  rest  the  often  reiterated 
assumption  that  this  territory  and  its  products 
can  only  be  cultivated  by  slaves.  A  social  prob- 
lem which  has  vexed  the  wisest  approaches  a  so- 


lution. The  capacity  of  a  race,  and  the  possibil- 
ity of  lifting  it  to  civilization  without  danger  or 
disorder,  even  without  throwing  away  the  present 
generation  as  refuse,  are  being  determined.  And 
thus  the  way  is  preparing  by  which  the  peace  to 
follow  this  war  shall  be  made  perpetual. 

Finally,  it  would  seem  that  upon  this  narrow 
theatre,  and  in  these  troublous  times,  God  is  de- 
monstrating against  those  who  would  mystify 
his  plans  and  thwart  his  purposes,  that  in  the 
councils  of  his  infinite  wisdom  he  has  predestined 
no  race,  not  even  the  African,  to  the  doom  of 
eternal  bondage. 

There  are  words  of  personal  gratitude  which  it 
is  not  easy  to  suppress.  To  the  superintendents, 
who  have  treated  me  with  uniform  kindness  and 
subordination ;  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Peck,  to  whom 
was  assigned  the  charge  of  the  general  interests 
of  Port  Royal  Island;  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  French, 
who  was  charged  with  special  duties  ;  to  the  be- 
nevolent associations  in  Boston,  New- York,  and 
Philadelphia,  without  whose  support  and  contri- 
butions, amounting,  in  salaries  and  donations  of 
specific  articles,  to  not  less  than  twenty  thousand 
dollars,  this  enterprise  could  not  have  been  car- 
ried on  or  commenced ;  to  the  Flag-Officer  of  the 
Squadron  and  the  Generals  commanding,  for 
facihties  cheerfully  afforded,  particularly  to  Bri- 
gadier-General Stevens,  to  whom,  as  Port  Royal, 
Ladies',  and  St.  Helena's  Islands,  were  all  within 
his  district,  it  was  necessary  often  to  apply ;  to 
the  Collector  of  New-York,  with  whom  the  busi- 
ness operations,  have  been  conducted;  to  your- 
self, for  confidence  intrusted  and  continued,  I  am 
under  special  obHgations. 

But,  more  than  all,  in  parting  with  the  inter- 
esting people  who  have  been  under  my  charge,  I 
must  bear  testimony  to  their  uniform  kindness  to 
myself  One  of  them  has  been  my  faithful  guide 
and  attendant,  doing  for  me  more  service  than 
any  white  man  could  render.  They  have  come, 
even  after  words  of  reproof  or  authority,  to  ex- 
press confidence  and  good  resolves.  They  have 
given  me  their  benedictions  and  prayers,  and  I 
should  be' ungrateful  indeed  ever  to  forget  or  de- 
ny them. 

I  am  your  friend  and  servant, 

Edward  L.  Pierce, 
Special  Agent  of  Treasury  Department. 


Date  Due 

MAY"  a 

 ii^S —  i   sf^ 

oaH?  1  TT^r^j — 



Form  335.    45M  8-37. 

I 


325.4    Z99F    1860-65    v. 14 

Nos, 277-310  321752 


